


Mountain Pose

by daltonacademyfightclub



Category: Professional Wrestling, World Wrestling Entertainment
Genre: Adopted Children, Domestic Fluff, Kevin the Dog, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Past Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, dancer!dean, obligatory holiday chapter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-31
Updated: 2015-12-27
Packaged: 2018-04-29 01:55:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 37,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5112056
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daltonacademyfightclub/pseuds/daltonacademyfightclub
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Going to yoga class with Nikki was the best thing Seth Rollins ever did for himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The First 24 Hours

When Seth saw him, he knew he had to have him. Maybe not in a biblical way, but the way that the man in the gray tank top’s back arched was absolutely sinful.

“You plan on coming back to the studio again with me?” His friend Nicki asked behind him, coming back with half a granola bar to share. She followed his eyes to where Seth was looking across the hall and raised her eyebrows. “Or you can watch. Stare like a fool, maybe, but you can watch instead.”

Seth looked back at Nikki with a slightly bemused glare. “Ha- _ha_. It’s not like I can just walk into the… dance studio? That guy in there is a dancer?” That surprised Seth more than it should, given the fact that when he actually took a moment to look around the surroundings of the man within the studio, everything checked out to be a quintessential dance studio. There was even a barre lining the right mirrored wall, which it appeared the man was headed to next.

“Sure looks like it,” Nikki agreed, moving to hoist her yoga bag up over her shoulder. “Why don’t you go in there and ask him what he does? Before he gets into a new routine or something and you’re disturbing him.”

Seth finally pulled his gaze away and looked at his friend again. “I think I’m disturbing enough by gaping like a fish in front of the doors. Let’s go.”

“You’re right,” Nikki agreed again, startling Seth when she took him by the arm and pulled him to the door of the dance studio with a vigor Seth hadn’t seen in that girl before. “Let’s go in.” A devilish smirk crossed her face as Seth was too stunned to pull away. Nikki had tried to be his wingman occasionally in the past, sure, but this was way too forward for how she normally acted.

"What are you doing?" Seth sputtered out as quietly as possible as Nikki pulled the studio's door open with the hand that wasn't maintaining a steely grip on Seth's shoulder. "Do you even know if we're allowed in here?!"

"It's fine by me," replied a slightly raspy voice from further inside the studio. Turning in its direction, the two newcomers realized it was the man of Seth's interest. "You two looking to join the studio or something?"

“I – oh-oh, uh, no.”

“He was looking to meet you, actually,” Nikki piped up from beside Seth. “We were just coming out of our yoga class across the hall over there and he couldn’t help but watch you dance for a little bit.”

“Well, doesn’t that sound sweet… and a little stalker-y, to be honest.” The man chuckled a little slowly, extending a hand first to Seth as Nikki slowly lost its grip on Seth’s shoulder. “Name’s Dean. This place is run by my brother, but he’s out for the day so it’s my place right now.”

Seth shook Dean’s hand as firmly as he could muster. Dean’s hand was solid but smooth, a little from callouses but from decent grooming as well. His own, in comparison, was more than a little rough around the edges with more slender fingers than those on the hand he was currently holding. Still holding.

Dean was the first to pull away with a slight air of amusement. Surely Seth wasn’t the first person to swoon after Dean and likely wouldn’t be the last. “Nice grip,” Dean quipped, shaking Nikki’s hand much more quickly afterwards. “What are your names?”

“I’m Nikki and this is Seth,” Nikki replied, looking from Seth to Dean again. “Seth’s new – well, newer than I am – to town so I had to take him to one of my yoga classes before he went out looking for a CrossFit gym.”

“CrossFit?” Dean repeated. “A guy who comes around here sometimes, Antonio, I think his name is, he does CrossFit-type stuff. I’ll have to ask him where he goes to do that some time.”

“Well, you’ll need my number to text me and let me know where,” Seth reminded him, wondering where he got the gall to be this forward with his flirting. He knew he’d hear about it later in the car from Nikki, but honestly, it had just slipped out naturally. He could see her raising her eyebrows in surprise next to him, crossing her arms over chest to see where this was going to go.

If Dean was surprised about the forwardness of the man in front of him, it didn’t show. “Sure, lemme just get my phone out of my bag and we can swap.” He turned around quietly and headed to where his bag appeared to be in the corner of the room. Seth was unsure of whether or not he should follow, straightening up and doing so when he saw Dean turn back around and beckon Seth to him.

Nikki beamed and nudged Seth forward, looking immensely proud of her friend and his sudden display of courage. Seth knew she was happy for him, especially since he had been single for a few months before even getting to town last month. Seeing her friend possibly have a new beginning within a new beginning – on top of the fact that it was partially her doing – warmed her heart. Being a matchmaker for her friends wasn’t something she got to do all the time, but when she did, Nikki threw her whole heart in it.

Something deep inside her gut (that she was 99% sure was not her half of the granola bar) told her that this was going to be the start of a beautiful relationship. Now she just had to make sure that this new relationship of Seth’s didn’t go south like the last one.

* * *

Dean had had boyfriends before, girlfriends too, so it wasn’t entirely too weird for him to give out his number to interested individuals. Usually, though, it was to people he’d get into a conversation with at the bar and then wind up in bed with a couple of hours later, not people that gawked at him from outside the dance studio.

(Oh, yes, he’d definitely noticed Seth outside. He wasn’t blind, after all.)

When he’d told his brother Roman later at home that night that he’d got another guy’s number, one that he didn’t pick up over hard liquor, Roman was thrilled. “Finally, Dean-o,” Roman told him as he knelt down to check the casserole in the oven.  “You found someone well-adjusted. Well, relatively; I mean, he’s dating you after all.”

The smug grin that Dean had been wearing up to that point shifted when he knocked Roman upside the head. “Don’t be an as– jerk,” he chided, looking back where Roman’s daughter and his honorary niece, Joelle was sitting cross-legged on the couch. “And we’re not dating yet.”

“Yet,” Roman replied as he stood back up to his full height. Dean forgot how intimidating Roman could look even when he wasn’t trying. “I’m getting good vibes about this guy already, though. He’s a lot healthier-sounding than some of the others. You said he does yoga and CrossFit?”

“Well, he was doing yoga with his friend because she was, but I think he’s really just into CrossFit alone. He tagged along.”

“Good thing he did, huh?” Roman smiled and clapped Dean on the back, walking past him to pick Joelle up off the couch, spinning her in his arms as she squealed happily. “Maybe Joey here has another uncle in her future.”

“More uncles, Daddy?” Joelle asked, holding onto Roman’s shoulder and looking between her father and Dean. “I get another one like Uncle Dean?”

“Maybe not _just_ like me, Jo,” Dean replied, going over and chucking her under the chin lightly, “but this guy that I’m friends with now is a pretty cool cat. He has longer hair like your daddy.”

“Maybe he’ll let me braid it!” Joelle said excitedly. “I can do a big, big braid for him!”

“We’ll see, Joey-bug. I have to make sure he’s good enough for my favorite girl before I can introduce you two, much less have you braid his hair. But part of it is blond, so a braid would look super-duper cool, I’ll give you that.” Suddenly, Dean’s phone buzzed in his back pocket. _Well, speak of the devil._

“Dinner’ll be ready in about five minutes,” Roman replied as Dean took his phone out of his pocket and headed to his bedroom. “I won’t make you a dish so it won’t get cold.”

“Sounds good,” Dean replied absentmindedly, opening the message from “Seth (Bl/Br)” as he went.

_I was thinking - you want to talk about CrossFit stuff over dinner tonight? Or about the studio, that’d be cool too._

Dean’s fingers hovered over the phone keyboard as another text appeared on the screen under the first.

_Or about yourself! About anything really, just over dinner with you._

Dean smiled. It was a good thing that Roman wasn’t making him a plate tonight after all.

* * *

The date went swimmingly. After a few more texts to clarify how (each taking their own cars) and where (a small pizzeria in Seth’s new neck of the woods, not far from the studio either as it seemed) the two of them were going out, they met up around 6:30 in front of the restaurant. When Dean got there, he berated himself silently for not swinging by the supermarket or somewhere on the way and picking Seth up a small bouquet of flowers. That was what Roman had did when he first dated Joelle’s mother, and it had charmed her on the spot.

(Of course, they were separated now, so maybe he should take things with a grain of salt.)

When Dean got out of his car to meet Seth, he saw his date before his date saw him. Seth had obviously showered since that afternoon; all of the flyaway hairs that had been coming out of his bun were now silky smooth-looking and in a ponytail instead. Instead of the compression shorts and tee advertising some years-old 5K, the man had on dark jeans and a forest green sweater that reminded Dean that it was late September, after all.

Dean looked down at his Ramones shirt, nice (i.e. “not littered with holes or mysterious months-old stains”) jeans, and favorite leather jacket with a sigh. Maybe he was accidentally underdressed, sure, but this wasn’t the first time since he’d given his number to Seth earlier that day that he’d felt that Seth was way out of his league.

“Hey, you,” Seth said with a smile when Dean made it to his side by the front door. “You look great. You like the Ramones?”

“Yeah, I have their whole discography on my iPod,” Dean replied, looking down at his hands before stuffing them into his jacket pockets anxiously. “So, uh… you wanna go inside? Because I don’t mind talking to you out here, but it smells ridiculously good and probably better on the inside.”

Seth agreed and smiled at Dean, the small gesture putting him at relative ease. Seth just seemed so much cooler, more relaxed, more… worldly? And he loved to talk about anything and everything, which Dean found out as the two of them were waiting for the waitress to come get their drink order.

“I only just moved here a couple weeks ago, a month tops, but I love it here. There’s actual seasons, y’know? After I went to college, I was down in Arizona for a couple of years -- where I met Nikki and her family -- and believe me, Arizona is not for the faint of heart when it comes to heat. My first summer there, I felt like ripping my skin clean off, laying in the desert, and just letting the animals take me.”

“That bad, huh?”

“Yep. But I got used to it, like with everything else down there in Scottsdale. That’s when I first started doing CrossFit and ate paleo for a while, since they were both hugely popular at the time. Still are, when you think about it, but I think that’s just because I got on the bandwagon early.” Seth paused to laugh, looking past Dean at the waitress coming their way. “I’m a bit of a health-hipster, if you can call it that. I’ll try anything once.”

“Anything at all?” Dean asked after the waitress left. “Have you ever considered dancing?”

The way Seth looked at him, mildly perplexed with a touch of consideration woven in, made Dean want to literally stuff his foot in his mouth so he couldn’t embarrass himself anymore. _Not everyone is as weird as you are, Dean. Don’t scare this guy away already!_

Soon after, though, Seth’s face changed again to a soft scarlet. “Honestly? I think I’ve got two left feet. And they’re made of lead on top of that. But if I worked at it, maybe I could become marginally better at it? I-I know if I get married someday, I want to be able to at least do _something_ at my wedding, you know?”

Dean’s heart soared. “Well, I could always teach you? I mean, look at me, do I look like someone that’s won tap competitions?”

His date started laughing, probably imagining Dean in a full leotard and tights set at his current age and build. Little did Seth know that the tap competitions were about a decade prior. Jazz and interpretive dance, on the other hand…

“No, I guess I wouldn’t assume that just looking at you. But you teaching me would be nice. I’m a fast learner.”

The waitress came back with Seth’s water and lemon and Dean’s diet soda, the two of them ordering a pepperoni and mushroom flatbread pizza to share. After she left again, Dean leaned forward across the table, a smug smile crossing his face. “Well, I’ve been told I’m a pretty good teacher. Want me to start teaching you tonight?”

* * *

The drive back to Seth’s apartment was short and separate, as the two of them had to drive their own cars. Dean hadn’t so much as even _kissed_ Seth yet, and yet here he was following the man back to his place to get up to things that he knew for a damn fact were not going to fly in the apartment he shared with Roman and Joey. Something just felt right with Seth, though. Like Roman said, Seth was well-adjusted, turned out to be really interested in Dean, and hot as hell.

He parked his car next to Seth’s, getting out first and going over to the other man, leaning on the side of his car. “So, do you do this with every guy you see in a dance studio, or am I a special case?”

“You’re a very special case,” Seth replied, getting out and standing in front of Dean. “It’s not every day that you meet a guy as handsome as you, Dean Ambrose.” He put his hands on either side of the car around Dean and grinned. Despite being slightly shorter than him, Dean had to admit that the move was sexy. “Or can I just call you Dean?”

“You can call me anything you want, gorgeous,” Dean mumbled before starting forward off the car and joining his lips with Seth’s. The man tasted fresh and cool from his water, clean as the earth after rain. Slowly, the two of them pulled away. Dean licked his lips and looked at Seth, feeling the thick yet silky feeling of need pool in the bottom of his stomach. “Again?”

Seth licked his own lips as if he was tasting Dean as well. “Again.”

* * *

The morning after, Dean woke up to an empty space on the bed beside him. At first, it didn’t phase him; he’d been left alone to get out of someone’s house after they went to work several times before. It was kind of surprising that his partners had trusted him like that (though in his defense, the most he’d stolen from someone before he left was a bagel). Still, he kind of wished that Seth was still around so he could spend some quality time with one of the best dates and lays of his life. He flipped over on his side and and looked into the open doorway.

Oh, well. At least he had Seth’s number and verbal affirmation from last night that it was just as good for Seth as it was for him.

Suddenly, a little figure came bounding into view from down the hallway. Dean assumed it was a smallish cat, but upon hearing the little thing yip and paw at Dean’s side of the bed, he deduced that it was a pretty small dog.

“Whatcha doin’ down there, little guy?” Dean asked softly, leaning a hand tentatively over the edge of the mattress in an effort to avoid getting nipped. “You need me to get you something to eat or are you just sayin’ hi?”

“I think it’s the latter,” another voice answered from the door warmly. Dean’s eyes rose up to see Seth cradling two cups of water in one arm and balancing two plates of pancakes in the other. “He’s got plenty of food in the front room, but ours is right here.”

Dean smiled softly and sat up, leaning forward to take the cups first out of Seth’s hold before taking the plate that Seth offered and setting it on his lap. “Breakfast in bed. What a gentleman,” Dean cooed. “For a minute I thought you’d left me.”

“Well, technically I _did_ ,” Seth winked, “but I’m afraid I’m going to have to leave you again to get the maple syrup for our pancakes. Don’t feed Kevin anything while I’m gone,” he continued as he retreated back down the hall again. “Otherwise you’ll have nothing left for yourself by the time I get back!”

Dean chuckled and set about on cutting one of the pancakes on his plate, looking down at Kevin – _what an odd name for a dog,_ he mused – who was doing his best impression of one of those ASPCA commercials. If he listened hard enough, he could hear Seth puttering about in the kitchen, opening the fridge and shutting it a couple times and heading back to the bedroom.

“I have sugar-free syrup or this wild blueberry compote thing that Nikki picked up for me,” Seth said as he entered the room again. By that point, Dean had let Kevin up onto the bed but kept shooing him away from both of the plates. “I recommend the blueberry personally, but I’m a bit of a food snob, what can I say?”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Dean replied with a grin, reaching out to take the jar from Seth. “It looks delicious, the pancakes and all. I’m no good at making stuff in pans.”

“I’ll have to show you then.” Seth crawled into bed again next to Dean, scratching Kevin’s head lightly before cutting up his share of the food. “Since it’s Sunday, we have all day? If you’re not busy or anything, of course –”

“I’m free today.”

Even though Dean had Roman and Joey already, maybe he didn’t have to be alone.


	2. A Whole Lot of Middle

Even though they woke up at 9 (Seth slightly earlier for the pancakes), the two of them stayed in bed until noon. Seth loved the way that Dean listened to him with his whole body: sitting up straight to show he was paying attention when Seth looked his way, nodding and mumbling in soft agreement when Seth asked for his opinion on something. It had been so long since he’d had someone to talk to that really seemed to _get_ him, and Seth ate it up.

“This is really nice,” Seth continued after a couple minutes of silence between the two of them, though that wasn’t saying much, given Dean. “Don’t you think so?”

“Definitely,” the man next to him replied as he let Kevin chew on his fingertips. “I could stay like this for a while. You, me, and this little one here.” Kevin, to his credit, stopped nibbling at his mention. “You’re a little bit chattier than last night, though.”

Seth blanched. Was that just an observation or something else? His mind began racing a mile a minute. _You know how Randy was, all ‘I’m just kidding’ to ease the pain but really trying to dig in deep_ followed _he’s just teasing, quit being so damn touchy._ Apparently, his anxiety was visible, because when he looked up from where he was staring at the bedspread, Dean was looking back at him, concerned.

“Are you okay?” Dean asked softly, moving one of his hands away from Kev to touch Seth’s arm lightly. The softness of the touch really showed that he was testing the waters. “I was only commenting on it since you kinda let me take the reins last night after we got our drinks and now you’re more talkative. I like it.”

“Really?”

Dean nodded, smiling warmly like he had the night before. “Really. It was just an observation, not a critique.” Dean leaned over further to kiss Seth’s temple. “I like hearing your voice.”

“I like listening to you too,” Seth answered quietly, turning to look Dean in the eyes and nearly bumping their noses together. “I-I think… I think I’d like to listen to you for a long time. Does that sound crazy?” He wrinkled his nose. “We haven’t known each other but twenty-four hours.”

“A little,” Dean admitted, shrugging his shoulders and kissing Seth again, this time on the forehead. “But I’ve seen relationships start way sooner and in much more interesting ways than how we did – are? Currently are starting, anyway – and I’m willing to give it a shot if you are.”

Seth thought for a moment, glancing past Dean and around his new bedroom; boxes still stacked up precariously in one corner, clothes lying across his desk chair where he’d shucked them off the night before. So much was happening so fast right now. Was he really ready to take on a relationship on top of all this?

 _You can’t let this one slip out of your fingers,_ the little voice inside of his head told him. _This isn’t a repeat performance of you and Randy. You can’t be stuck in the past._

Seth cleared his throat, looking back at his new boyfriend – that sounded so good, honestly – and smiled. “I wanna give us a shot.”

The absolutely sunshiney smile that appeared on Dean’s face as he agreed let Seth know that he was making the right choice.

* * *

It took a couple weeks of frantic courtship (among other things) before Dean even considered bringing Seth around to his own apartment while Joey and Roman were there. Sure, the two of them had seen pictures of Seth and vice versa, but the three of them hadn’t officially met yet. No time had just felt “right” to do so in Dean’s opinion.

That meant, of course, the universe had to take matters into its own hands.

Making out on Dean’s bed was a fairly innocuous activity that the two of them got up to at least twice a week. “After all,” Dean once quipped as he lavished kisses on the side of Seth’s neck. “Think of it as low-impact cardio. Plus I get to touch you, which is an automatic win in my book.” Seth had just grinned and turned his head further away from Dean to allow him more room.

The two of them were laying on Dean’s bed next to each other afterwards, Seth stroking Dean’s fine hair softly. “You’re so fucking handsome, like James Dean,” Seth murmured, making Dean grin stupidly. “My own James Dean.”

“The name’s Dean, but not James Dean,” Dean chuckled. “I’ll take it though, even though I don’t have another guy for you. I don’t know many Seths.”

“Seth Rogen?” his Seth offered, making Dean wrinkle his nose. “You’re right, he’s way more handsome than I am,” Seth giggled as Dean set back on kissing his boyfriend’s neck. “I need to take lessons from him.”

“More like I need to take lessons from you,” Dean replied, not hearing the front door open down the hallway. “My sexy, smart, amazin’ –”

“Uncle Dean! Uncle Dean!” Dean heard the little stomps coming down the hallway toward his bedroom, and he had just enough time to roll away before his bedroom door swung open. Joelle stopped in the doorway and stared at the two of them on his bed. “Uncle… Dean?” She cocked her head to the side. “Who’s this?”

Seth looked absolutely mortified, turning his head to hide his face from the little girl. _Nervous,_ Dean thought with a chuckle to himself. They’d talked about Joey before and how she was the only little one in either of their lives at the moment, though Seth had a sneaking suspicion that Nikki’s sister Brie would be expecting a child with her husband Daniel soon enough.

“This is that friend I was telling you and your daddy about,” Dean told her as he swung himself up to be sitting on the bed. He patted the empty space on his lap for her to jump up, which she did soon after. “His name is Seth and he is very, _very_ nice, but we weren’t expecting to have you two meet today.”

“Oh.” Joelle sounded a little disappointed, craning her body to look at Seth from Dean’s lap. Dean noticed by then that Roman had joined in the whole situation by watching silently from the doorway. “He has pretty hair, though.”

For some reason, that made Seth perk up almost immediately. “Well, thank you so much for that compliment, Miss Joelle.” He rolled back over facing the other three people in the room, Dean watching Roman straighten up protectively out of the corner of his eye. “I heard that you like people with nice hair, and I always make extra-special-sure that my hair is soft and shiny.”

It was time for Joey to perk up now as she leaned back to ask Roman if she could touch Seth’s hair. “Why don’t you ask him yourself?” Roman replied, voice softening like Dean always knew it did when Roman was enchanted by his little girl. She nodded solemnly and turned back around to look at Seth, who was grinning by now.

“Can I please touch your hair, Mr. Seth?” Seth nodded his approval back, joining in with the laughter that bubbled up from the other two men in the room when she practically sprung out of Dean’s arms to stroke his blond streak. “Daddy, it’s so _soft_!”

“Would you like to braid it sometime?” Seth asked Joelle, chuckling when she nodded as ardently as possible, making herself look like a little bobblehead doll. “We’ll have to do that sometime then. I bet you can do awesome braids.”

“In the meantime, though,” Roman interjected, walking over to shake Seth’s hand. “I’d like to just say it’s wonderful to finally meet you in person, man. Dean’s always bragging on you whenever he gets the chance.” Dean smiled and blushed but didn’t deny it. “You staying for dinner? I’m making a pasta and chicken bake.”

“That sounds great – if you don’t mind me staying, after all. I know this is short notice.” Seth looked mildly embarrassed, glancing at Dean, who could only nod encouragingly. This meeting was going way better than he had envisioned in his mind and Roman was making that cheesy chicken pasta thing he loved so much? Score.

“It’s no trouble at all, man,” Roman assured him, bending down and stroking his daughter’s hair for a second until she turned to look at him. “How’s about we leave Uncle Dean and Mr. Seth alone for a little bit and you help Daddy make dinner, Joey-bug?”

“We can hang out more later if that’s alright with your dad,” Seth offered, holding out a hand for her to high-five and agree on.

Joelle accepted the high-five and lifted her arms at her dad, who got the hint and picked her up. “Okay. I’ll see you soon, Mr. Seth! Bye, Uncle Dean!” she called as Roman carried her back out of the bedroom to the kitchen area.

“Bye, sweetie,” Dean replied, waving for a second until the figures disappeared down the hallway and he turned back to his boyfriend. “Looks like you made a new friend,” he said coyly, smirking a little bit.

“What can I say? She’s adorable and has good taste in hair,” Seth replied, reaching forward to wrap his arms around Dean’s neck and pull him close once more. “Plus, it would only be right to be extra-nice to her, me dating her uncle and all.”

Dean scooted forward, wondering how in the world he got so lucky to have all of this going for him right now. “You wanna be extra-nice to me right now and gimme a kiss or two?”

“Mm, can do.”

* * *

Because Dean was able to adjust his working hours at the studio with much more ease than Seth was able to adjust his at the architectural firm, dates typically ran around Seth’s busy schedule. Neither of them really minded though, because it made the time they spent together more enjoyable with how fleeting it could be on occasion. It wasn’t out of the ordinary for Seth to get a text that read _Meet me at the hiding spot ;)_ from his boyfriend on a particularly nice day for them to walk in the park before catching a bite to eat nearby.

(The “hiding spot” was what Dean had renamed this giant boulder that marked a fork in the park trail. Seth didn’t know why Dean called it that; the only hiding they had done there was a ten-second pause for bikers when they played tonsil hockey up against it on a midsummer day.)

Seth did begin to feel bad after a while, though. After all, Dean was jumping through hoops to make sure that he was available anytime he himself would be. It just didn’t feel right to have Dean do all of the schedule-juggling in this relationship, especially because he wanted to make the two of them work.

For the first time in his life, Seth Rollins took an unnecessary sick day.

(He was shocked at himself too.)

He didn’t bother to tell Dean, figuring that it would be much more fun to surprise Dean when he got off work at three in the afternoon by waiting for him with flowers in the parking lot of the studio’s building. Even if buying someone flowers wasn’t cool anymore, Seth figured that Dean would love it anyway. Worst case scenario, he’d have some nice carnations to brighten up the apartment.

 _Hey, babe,_ Seth texted Dean once he was in the parking lot at 2:50. _You still getting out at 3 today?_

 _Yep, same as all Thursdays_ appeared on the phone screen about a minute later. _You wanna get takeout when you get home?_

Seth decided not to deign that with a response, instead smiling at the look on Dean’s face when the man came out of the building about twenty seconds later. Another ten seconds (Dean had been dancing all day, after all) and his arms were full of him.

“You got off work early?” Dean asked, kissing Seth’s cheek twice before continuing. “I hope it wasn’t for me, babe, I’m not worth you getting chewed out by your boss for being lazy or whatever his old ass is crowing ‘bout nowadays.”

“First of all, you are _definitely_ worth getting chewed out for. And no, I didn’t get off work early.” Seth smiled smugly. “I took the day off.”

Dean looked slightly stunned. “ _You_ did?”

Seth nodded. “I wanted to surprise you… and give myself time to clean up the apartment so you could stay the night.” He moved his arms up Dean’s back to wrap them over his shoulders. “I also have chicken parm in the slow cooker, getting all nice and tender for us to have with pasta later…” he cooed, knowing Dean had a weak spot for home-cooked meals.

Sure enough, Dean groaned almost pornographically at that last bit. “I don’t know if my staying the night will be worth anything if you’ve made chicken parmesan,” he warned Seth, finally looking past him to see the small bouquet of red and pink carnations that was sitting on top of the trunk of Seth’s car. “You bought me flowers too? Aw, babe…”

“I wanted to treat you tonight, just as special as you treat me all the time,” he replied simply, kissing Dean gently on the lips. “But c’mon, let’s get home and get all cuddled up until dinner. You’re due for a lazy date, mister.”

“Good thing I caught a ride with Roman so I can spend even more time with you,” Dean said as he let go of Seth, probably to text Roman about the fact that he didn’t need a ride back to their apartment tonight anymore. “It’s always a good thing when I’m spending time with you.”

* * *

On several occasions, Dean tried to actually teach Seth some dance moves, but he quickly found out that his beloved had two left feet. Two left feet, and if the heaviness of Seth’s steps were anything to go by, they were made of lead as well.

“You have to at least be able to get a simple little waltz down,” Dean replied as he placed his hand on the small of Seth’s waist, ready to take the lead when the music began. “That’s just rhythm 101, a three-four count.” Seth merely shrugged and looked at his and Dean’s reflection in the mirrors lining one wall of the studio.

“We look cute,” Seth offered, Dean chuckling a little bit and pinching his side lightly to get Seth to focus. “Hey!”

“The music’s about to begin, c’mon. Work with me here.”

A second after Dean said that, the music from the overhead speaker system finally kicked in, starting the two of them off on a classic waltz that Dean knew was going to pick up in speed over time. “Just focus on your steps. _One_ -two-three, _one_ -two-three,” he repeated, waiting until Seth was mouthing the words along with him to stop.

The two of them carried on for a good minute until the speed finally picked up and the waltz grew slightly more frantic. Soon enough – and really, Dean should have expected this beforehand, he realized later – Seth grew just as reckless as the beat and began missing steps and landing where he didn’t belong (like on Dean’s toes) again and again. Finally, the madness reached a fever pitch and Seth, completely overwhelmed with the sudden developments, ended up tripping over his own two feet and landed on the studio floor, bringing Dean down with him.

Dean could feel Seth’s eyes on him as he got up to turn the music off and turned his back on him, huffing frustratedly at Seth’s progress. To be fair, it wasn’t his fault that he couldn’t tell what made a _grand_ _jete_ so _grand_ , but Dean was decently sure that he had a different meaning to “snatch” than Seth’s CrossFit friends did as well.

“Maybe you could teach me again rather than getting all huffy?” Seth smiled, getting up from the floor and taking Dean’s hand from behind him. “My dumbassery is part of my charm.”

Dean couldn’t help but smile back. Seth was kind of oblivious but also pretty cute when he was. At least he was willing to give to give one of Dean’s passions a shot, unlike many other men before him. “Fine. But don’t step on my feet anymore, wise guy.”

“No promises.” Seth beamed up at his boyfriend, tapping the top of Dean’s left foot with his shoe. “I might be a… tricky student right now. You might have to punish me.”

“ _Seth_.”

“Okay, okay! Just show me where my hands should stay this time around.”

Dean took Seth’s hands in his and placed them where they needed to be against his shoulder and the palm of his other hand. “Don’t worry. I still got you.”


	3. Digging Deeper

“You know,” Seth supposed one night as he and Dean sat on the couch after the movie they were watching ended, “you never actually told me how you got into dance.”

“I didn’t?” Dean looked surprised, turning his head to face Seth.

“Nope.”

“It’s not a short story, to be fair,” Dean warned. “It’s basically my fucked-up life story with a little bit of fun near the end.”

Seth shrugged. “I’m all ears, and it’s too late to start another movie anyway.” He glanced at the clock, seeing that it was closer to when he planned on getting up to go to the gym than he preferred. Oh well. He’ll just have to work a little harder on setting a personal best time tomorrow than he expected. “Besides, I want to hear about you. You’ve heard a little about me.”

Dean sighed and closed his eyes, putting his head on Seth’s shoulder. “Where do you want me to begin?”

“Anywhere you want to,” Seth replied, curling his arm more around Dean’s shoulders and stroking the light brown strands like they were down feathers. “People usually start at the beginning, though,” he teased.

“No shit, Sherlock,” Dean chuckled, a little more relaxed. “Okay, we can start with seven-year-old me. Living in Cincinnati at the time, Mom and I had a one-bedroom apartment that had been used as a crack den probably decades on decades before we got ahold of it. So it was only natural that we lived there, right?

“For my age, I was especially bright, I suppose. I mean, how many four-year-olds know how long to hold a lighter under a spoon super still for their moms?” Seth grimaced. He’d had some idea where this was going, but didn’t want to admit it to himself until he got the whole truth straight from Dean. “So I was mommy’s little drug helper for a while, but I never wanted to use myself or anything. Mom was greedy that way, unless one of her boyfriends was around. Then they got some… literally and figuratively.”

“From just her or…?” Seth found himself asking carefully, the insinuation of his question feeling a little stupid on his tongue.

“Nah, just her. If she ever picked up a dude that was a kiddy-diddler, I wouldn’t know. Most of the time, the guys just ignored me. There were more important things there for them anyway, and I hated pretty much all of them with a passion so I can’t complain.” Dean shrugged, yawning a little bit. “It was just a little annoying to hear that shit going on with your mom, y’know?”

Seth nodded, though he couldn’t really relate. “Yeah, makes sense, I guess.”

Dean continued for a couple more minutes, explaining how the two of them – he and his mother, of course – made their way down the United States until they got to Florida when Dean was thirteen. “Miami, specifically,” Dean clarified. “The drug scene in cities here is ridiculous; there’s a reason why there’s like, two hundred documentaries on narcos down there.”

He cleared his throat. “So I’m wandering around town after school one day, right, because I don’t want to go home for obvious reasons, and I stumble across this building with great big glass windows that let me see inside. Inside, as you can probably guess, are a bunch of girls dancing. Contemporary, I’d find out later. It was getting late, though, so I had to hurry home with plans to visit again tomorrow when it was still light outside.

“I ran home after checking the street names, and I told my mom about it. She was a little strung out as usual, but seemed pleased that I had found something to do instead of being in her hair. When I told her that maybe I could get into dancing, if guys did that – I internalized a lot of masculinity issues due to my lack of a strong paternal figure, according to my therapist – she laughed at me and told me that my good looks better be enough to get me into lessons. And that I better not do anything ‘faggy’.”

Seth winced at that. He’d gotten his fair share of casual homophobia from guys in high school, but he distinctly remembered how Randy had reacted when he started growing his hair out, even more harshly when the blond came into the picture. “That hits home a little.”

“You start to get used to it after a while, even though Roman’s made sure that that kind of language stays out of the studio and my earshot,” his boyfriend replied nonchalantly. “Anyway, I kept going back and watching at different spots near the building until I finally bucked up the courage to go into the place about a week later. I asked to speak to a male teacher specifically – wouldn’t want to upset my fragile teenage male ego – and when I did talk to this Chris guy, he told me to bring my mother in and we could have a chat about a potential payment plan.”

“And what did you tell him?”

“Told him the truth, of course. All of it, actually, right down to the drug abuse and constant moving. I’m pretty sure I was crying by the time I was done; I think I’ve blocked some of it out. But Chris just sighed and told me to ‘bring it in to the walls of Jericho’, which is what he called a hug. Weird guy, but funny. You’d like him if you met him.” Dean chuckled a little bit. “Always had a stupid ponytail on the top of his head when he didn’t have it in a bun during practice. Looked like a damn Shih Tzu.”

Seth moved his hands down from Dean’s hair and started rubbing small circles in the side of his neck, happy that Dean at least had some pleasant memories to counteract all the other bad ones.

“Chris said that if I helped the janitor clean up at the end of the day around seven, he’d teach me for free, or at least get me into a class I wanted for free if I didn’t want that. Ended up spending six years at that place until I graduated high school. Even though I still had to deal with my mom, I finally got my shit together when I started dancing. My grades improved to where I was actually making the A/B honor roll, I had much, _much_ better hygiene, and I actually got out and talked to people at the studio. I met Roman at his sister’s ballet lessons, actually. He was waiting for the class to finish after his did so he could pick her up and head home for dinner. They lived on the other, better side of the tracks, of course. We met when we were fifteen and have been best friends ever since… well, except for the two weeks he refused to talk to me because I talked to this girl before he got a chance to.”

Dean smiled slowly, letting his face crack at its own pace until there was a big dumb grin on Dean's face, ear to ear. Seth couldn't help but smile back, though he knew the story couldn't have a happy ending here. That would require the universe to have taken it easy on his new boyfriend. That never happened; not even once in a blue moon.  
  
"Was it weird walking home after practice to take care of my mother? Yeah, especially if she had shot up that morning or during her lunch break. I still can't figure out how she managed to hold a job, but I guess being a grocery store clerk didn't make sobriety the most important quality a worker could have." Dean shrugged his shoulders in supposition and tugged his jacket closer around his chest. "I miss her sometimes, y'know? The idea of her and the idea of family."

"I thought Roman was your family now," Seth reminded him, taking the pause in Dean's introspection to take one of Dean's hands in his own. "Or do you mean biological?"

"Biological, childhood stuff, yeah," Dean clarified. "That stuff. But, Seth, you know what I tell myself when I get into one of these moods? All discombobulated and" – Dean made a frantic gesture with his free hand – "nutty like that? Ask me what I tell myself."

"What do you tell yourself?" Seth obeyed politely, squeezing the brunet man's hand.

“I have people to let down now. And I can’t afford to do that anymore.” Dean squeezed his hand back. “You’re one of them now, Seth. And it’s not that I feel that I have to bottle up who I am or anything, or tell myself to suck it up, but I didn’t like myself when I was catatonic. I didn’t like being the kid in high school that everyone was convinced was gonna shoot up the school. I played the part because I didn’t have anyone to tell me that I was more than that. Now I do. I don’t want to lose anyone because my mind doesn’t want to work the way I want it to sometimes.”

“You wouldn’t lose me because of that,” Seth assured him, feeling glum at the very idea that Dean was convinced that he would lose loved ones because of his mental issues. “I couldn’t imagine leaving you now, baby.”

“But you still could,” Dean countered, not sounding even the slightest bit frightened at the thought. It was almost as it he’d come to terms with the possibility, or it had happened often enough that he just learned to accept it as another relationship milestone, like the first night (and morning) they had spent together. “There’s always the chance that we break up, Seth, whether it’s over something stupid or not. I could end up breaking your heart and not even realize it until you’re halfway out the door and it’s too late.”

Seth stayed silent, mulling over his boyfriend’s words again and again. Dean had been nothing but honest with him up until now, so there was no reason to believe that this was not absolutely possible in Dean’s mind. And he was right: they _could_ break up, but anything could happen, arguably. A plane could crash into the apartment at that very moment, but they weren’t panicking about that!

“Seth?” Dean spoke up, pulling Seth out of his thoughts. The way Dean’s voice nearly broke him at his core. “I’m sorry if you’re mad at me now, o-or anxious,” he apologized, looking down at Seth’s hands to see if they were shaking like they always did when he got this way. However, Seth held on with a fierce determination not to let go.

“I’m not mad at you, Dean,” Seth said quietly. “I can’t get mad at you for what your past did. I’m not like Randy.” This was the first time that he’d said his ex-boyfriend’s name out loud since they had started dating. “Randy always thought that anything he knew or felt that I didn’t was my own fault, not a product of my upbringing. He always thought _I_ was wrong.”

Seth didn’t mean to suddenly make this all about him, but it seemed that Dean was more than happy to be in a comforting role rather than being the one comforted anyway. “I can’t think of one thing that you’ve ever been wrong about since I’ve known you,” his boyfriend assured him, running his thumb over the top of Seth’s hand before smirking. “Well, I think you look better naked than _you_ think you do, but I might just be biased.”

He couldn’t help but scoff and squeeze Dean’s hand again gently. “You are biased, but I’m being serious here.” Seth chewed on his lower lip as he spoke. “I just… it just breaks my heart to know that you’re so _strong_ because… because you’ve never been allowed to be weak.”

His hands shaking a little bit less now, he turned to take Dean’s other hand in his own as well. “You can be weak with me. I want you to know you can show weakness and I will help you out, Dean.”

Dean’s eyes grew a little wet, making him lift both his and Seth’s hands together so he could wipe the potential tears away. “I know,” Dean mumbled under their joined hands. “I just wanted you to know how important you are to me. I know I can be weak, but honestly, Seth?” Dean moved his face back into view. “You make me feel stronger than I’ve ever been before.”

* * *

“That’s the last box,” Dean heard Seth call from the doorway of the apartment that was now both of theirs. “Remind me why you have an entire box’s worth of Goosebumps novels and why I can’t just put them in my storage unit?”

“Because Goosebumps books are awesome, babe,” Dean replied, smiling and meeting Seth halfway down the hallway, wrapping his arms around the man. “They make good toilet reading too, if you want me to be honest. Not literally scaring the shit out of me, but enough to pass some time.”

Seth just chuckled and kissed Dean on the cheek. “You’re so strange. Where’s Kevin though?” Dean craned his head to look over his shoulder to find the little guy. He’d just seen him a minute ago, chilling out on the bed and looking bemused as to why the place was so noisy.

“Probably scoping out what’s in all these boxes, napping on and wrinkling my shirts. Typical Kevin behavior,” he said, kissing Seth back and messing up the blond side of his head. “After we get my clothes in the dresser, we’ll be pretty much done and we can get lunch. It’s a good thing I travel light.”

“You won’t need to travel much anymore,” Seth mumbled against Dean’s neck. He could feel the slightly shorter man’s breath against his skin and chuckled, knowing the quiet words were just an excuse to be up against Dean. “I have you right here with me, and you’re not going anywhere, big guy.”

Dean let out a noise that was more of a chortle than anything, tickling Seth’s sides until he pulled back. “Is that so? Looks like we might need to break in the place then to make doubly sure it’s the right fit for me, if you know what I mean…”

Seth gave him a knowing look and shook his head, amused. “You’ve been here enough times to know exactly how this place works. C’mon, unpacking first, then lunch, and _then_ maybe I’ll consider heading back to bed.”

“Won’t be much to consider, I know how you are,” Dean countered, walking past Seth to pick up the bag with his important documents, birth certificate and the like, and hide it away in the bottom of the closet next to Seth’s. “And I love it, absolutely love it.”

Seth followed Dean back to the bedroom, Dean hearing his tongue click at Kevin when the two of them spotted him just where Dean assumed he’d be. “Get off those shirts, you little punk,” Seth chided, making Dean smile when Kevin obliged and chose to lie on one of the pillows on the bed instead.

“He’s such a lazy little thing,” Dean commented, watching fondly as Seth abandoned their current plan of getting what was left of Dean’s things settled to crawl up on the other side of the bed next to Kevin and coo and stroke his back. “I’m not sure if I’m talking about the dog or the human on the bed here though.”

Seth stuck his tongue out at Dean, smiling back to acknowledge that he knew Dean was just teasing. “There’s room for one more lazy human, you know,” Seth offered, reaching past the pup and patting the other side of the king-sized bed. “I think we’ll be fine if we take a short break for right now.”

“My breaks are anything but short,” Dean countered, opting not to walk around to the other side of the bed to lie down and instead plop right down on Seth’s back, making him squeak slightly in surprise. “Nothing about me is short.”

“Your temper when you’re trying to do Fouette turns in the studio,” Seth reminded him, watching Dean turn a little red.

“In my defense, my body _likes_ being jerky once I get into a good rhythm with pirouettes,” he replied. “But I’m fabulous and Summer can teach them when we get to that unit, so.” He kissed Seth on the head. “Don’t be a li’l punk, punk.”

“There’s a guy at my gym that calls himself Punk, but I think his real name’s Phil.” Seth said. “I’d be more upset about you reminding me of other guys if he wasn’t so ripped.” Dean shifted up as Seth wiggled and flipped under him to lay flat on his back. “Mmm, Punk…”

“Okay, now you’re gonna get it,” Dean threatened teasingly, tickling his boyfriend’s sides until Seth put his arms up to try and pry Dean off of him by the shoulders. The two of them were out of breath – Seth from laughing, Dean from trying to rock his way out of Seth’s vice-like grip to tickle him more – and lying side-by-side on the bed with Kevin snuggling back up in the middle as close to the pillows as possible.

“You know,” Seth said, scratching behind the little dog’s ears gently until it preened under his touch, “we make a pretty good little family here, don’t we? The three of us.”

Dean was taken aback for a moment until he smiled, leaning over to kiss Seth on the side of his head, loving the smell of his special color-protecting shampoo and his natural scent combined. If there was one thing that Dean wouldn’t mind haunting him forevermore, it would be that. It smelled like safety, late-night burger runs and the lazy following mornings, and kisses that only ended when they both wanted to pull away. Like warmth that surrounded his whole body and lit him up from the inside in a way that only a select few things could. Seth smelled like home. “Yeah,” he agreed quietly, nuzzling his nose further into Seth’s hair. “We’re a cute little family.”


	4. One Giant Step

It wasn’t long after Seth said that that he began looking for a more obvious sign of their relationship for Dean. The architectural firm was growing with new clients popping up almost daily, and while Seth was busy, he was also acutely aware of the direction his life was moving in. “You’re going to have to settle down sometime soon, sweetie,” his mother told him over the phone the week before.

“I _am_ settling down with Dean, Ma.” Seth scratched the back of his head anxiously, relieved that his mother couldn’t see his physical tics. “And I promise we’ll be up for Dad’s birthday in a couple weeks, so you and Dad can meet him in person.” Mr. and Mrs. Rollins had seen pictures and the occasional video on Facebook of the couple, but they hadn’t yet met Seth’s new beau in the flesh.

“And we can’t wait for that, but if you really do think that Dean is the one for you, honey, and you have the means to make it official –”

“We _are_ official, Facebook-official.”

“In the eyes of the Lord and/or the law,” Mrs. Rollins continued, “then go for it! Don’t spin your wheels waiting for the right time to just fall in one of you two’s laps.” She paused for a moment. “Plus you look so nice in a suit, sweetheart.”

That’s how Seth found himself at his local jeweler’s, hands fisted awkwardly in his jacket pockets. There were so many options available for him to choose from in the wedding ring section for men, but not nearly as many in engagement bands. There were a few downsides to being in a same-sex relationship.

“Can I help you with something?” a salesperson asked from behind the display case that Seth was peering intently into. She was an older brunette lady, her hair pulled back in a stiff chignon at the base of her head with rose gold earrings adorning her earlobes.

“Uh, yeah,” Seth cleared his throat and stood straight back up, looking the salesperson in the eye to try and quell some of his nervousness. “Yeah, I’m looking for an engagement ring for my fiance, but I don’t think there’s actually anything for me in this case.”

“Nonsense, there must be something here for you,” she assured him, reaching somewhere else behind the case to get out a ring of keys to unlock it. “Does your fiancé prefer a particular gemstone or metal?”

“Uh… to be honest, I have no clue,” he replied, blushing profusely. Doing this now was a huge mistake since he didn’t know Dean’s preferences. (To be fair, Dean didn’t wear any jewelry at all, though Seth initially pegged him for a guy that would have gotten a rebellious earring in his youth and let the hole close up over time.) “Maybe silver, given skintone? He has peachy undertones.”

Whatever the salesperson thought of Seth buying an engagement ring for another man didn’t register on her face, and Seth was extremely grateful for that. That had actually been one of his major worries coming into the store. “Well, do you know if he prefers a solid band or would he like gemstones?” The salesperson walked to another case not far away and unlocked that one instead. “That will narrow down the list considerably.”

“I think a small diamond would be good, like set flat inside a solid band? That way it’s still kinda traditional with the engagement ring but it’s still understated.” Seth peered inside the case with the selection of men’s engagement rings and pointed at a silver ring near the back left corner. “That one looks perfect. Can I see that one, please?” The lady nodded and lifted it out for him carefully, Seth taking it with just as much caution.

As soon as he had it in his hands, Seth knew it was the one. It just felt right in his hands, and the brushed silver and tasteful diamond accent would look great on Dean. _This is it,_ he thought to himself. _This is the one for_ my _one._

“Are we going with this one, sir?” the salesperson asked, pulling him out of his internal monologue. She seemed pleased, as if she knew that Seth had found his ring of choice already.

“We’re definitely going with this one, yeah,” Seth answered breathlessly, handing her back the ring that he hoped would soon be around the love of his life’s finger. “This is definitely the one.”

* * *

Even though the difference between the number of dates that Dean and Seth respectively took their boyfriends on had long been shrunk down, Dean was still a little surprised when Seth treated him out somewhere. He figured that it was partially due to the facts that a) Seth tended to meticulously plan things out beforehand, and Dean wondered where he had the time to fit all this “we time” as they called it into his schedule and b) he would never really get used to having someone dote on him and only him as much as Seth insisted on doing.

Meanwhile, down the hall in their bedroom, Seth was pacing the floor, trying to figure out what to wear that would be weather-appropriate, fashionable, and able to hide a ring box on his person. It was early February, sure, but there was still no way that he could make himself look picture-perfect with a tumor-like bulge poking out of the side of one of his tight jackets.

“Babe?” Dean called from the living room. “You said we had reservations at six, right? It’s five-thirty now and the place is fifteen minutes away.” There was a pause before Seth heard the sound of Dean getting up off the couch to come back to the back and see him. “You need help back here?”

Seth panicked, fashion sense flying out the window as he grabbed one of Dean’s jackets and thrust the box and his hands into the pockets in the nick of time. “Nope, just couldn’t decided what to wear.”

“So you stole _my_ clothes,” Dean continued for him with a smile, walking forward to kiss Seth on the nose. “Let’s get a move on before you change your mind again.”

“Believe me,” Seth replied, “I don’t think I’ll be changing my mind too often at the moment.”

The two of them took Dean’s car, Dean driving giving Seth time to fiddle with the ring box in his pocket, fingers sliding over the velvet nervously. Dean had grown more and more at ease, his own nervous tendencies like bouncing his foot slowing down to just an occasional shake whenever he was lost in his own train of thoughts. Nikki had actually recommended that the two of them try couples therapy. Not that they needed to work out their problems, but more so they could discuss any anxieties they had about their relationship with a mediator.

“I love you, Seth,” Nikki had explained over a cappuccino one day before they were to spend the day shopping together. “But sometimes you can take things the exact opposite way they were meant to be taken in the first place.”

“I dunno, Nik,” Seth replied. “I don’t want to drag Dean in somewhere he’s not comfortable, y’know? He’s had a lot more happen to him than what’s all gone down with me.”

“You’ll be there, though,” she reminded him. “If he was comfortable enough to tell you all his secrets, then it’ll be easier now. Just trust me on this one, okay?” Nikki took a drink. “John and I went right after his divorce got finalized to just discuss things and figure out where that marriage went wrong. Now it’s smooth sailing for the both of us.”

“You think this’ll be good for us?”

“I know so,” Nikki assured him. “Now drink your macchiato before it gets cold and gross.”

Seth kept the suggestion in his back pocket. _Maybe when we’re engaged,_ he bargained with himself, before getting a little giddy at his own confidence that he would be engaged by the end of the night. He didn’t even realize that his happiness was showing on his face until he saw Dean look at him out of the corner of his eye, smile, and wrap an arm around Seth’s shoulders.

“What’s got you so happy?” Dean asked, feeling his dimples slightly show with every word. “You plan on having dessert tonight or something?”

Seth rolled his eyes, still smiling. “You make it sound like I never do that. Yes, I will have dessert tonight. Maybe they’ve got something fancy at this place, like panna cotta or something.”

“We made panna cotta last week though,” Dean said, reminding him of last week’s attempt at making an entire meal from an episode of _Everyday Italian_ on the Food Network. Dean had been getting better in the kitchen every day. Seth could explain things simply and had a fire extinguisher under the sink (“just in case we get a little too flamey in here,” he’d explained), so Dean felt comfortable with making mistakes on his way to being able to actually cook for himself. That Sunday he’d stayed over at Seth’s for the first time and they started dating, the two of them had made enough omelets for Seth to take one to work with him the entire week and Dean to have a couple left for himself.

“True, true. But maybe we can eat more and steal their secrets to make ours better,” Seth suggested, before laughing. “Or maybe I just want sugary stuff.”

“For such a health nut, you sure have one hell of a sweet tooth,” Dean teased, moving his arm down to hold Seth’s hand. Seth didn’t typically have his hands out while they were in the car together, instead preferring to have them nice and toasty under his arms or in jacket pockets, so Dean appreciated the turn of events. “We’ll get you all sorted, don’t worry. You haven’t picked a bad place for date night yet.”

They got to the restaurant with ten minutes to spare, the host seating them quickly at a table near the corner of the dining area that had just enough light to soften Seth’s facial features in Dean’s eyes. _Not that anything about him needs to be,_ he thought to himself. Seth looked pleased as he sat across the table from him, taking a sip of the water glass that was ready and waiting before they’d placed their drink orders.

“So…” Seth started, his hands on the table tapping a soft yet erratic beat, “you like it so far?”

“We only just got here, silly,” Dean replied with a smile. “It’s nice so far. I like the lighting, the… ambience?”

“Yeah,” Seth replied, sounding a little absentminded. He’d probably had a long day at work and needed to unwind, Dean figured. Maybe it was best to not be too talkative tonight, give him time to clear his head and relax.

The two of them sat in silence for another minute or so before before Seth finally spoke up. “So, I think I mentioned before that Dad’s birthday is a couple of weeks from now.”

Dean nodded. “Yep, and you said that you wanted to go - well, correction, your _mom_ asked if you could come up since it’s his fiftieth, right?” Dean himself hadn’t yet met Seth’s parents in person or even seen them in real time (Skype was a little too advanced for them), but they knew of him and had spoken on the phone once or twice. It surprised Dean a little bit that Seth talked to his mother at least once a week, but he just chalked that up to his own messy relationship with his mother. After all, Roman and his entire family were close, and that was a lot of people to be both related to and on speaking terms with, and they were just fine.

“Yep,” Seth said. “I have a couple of loose ends I need to tie up before we go, so I was hoping to get those done as soon as possible.” Dean watched as Seth drew lines through the condensation on his water glass. “Nothing too major, just a couple of things to make sure that we have the best, least-stressed time up in Iowa.”

“Do you think your parents will like me?” Dean nearly blurted, making Seth look startled as he pulled him out of his explanation. “I-I mean, they’ve seen me, but they’ve never lived with me, y’know? I don’t want to step on any toes.”

Seth smiled at that. Dean was always so cautious with things that were related to just the two of them, a complete 180 of the lazy, passive attitude he had when they were out in public. It warmed Seth’s heart a little despite the fact that his boyfriend - well, soon to be _fiancé_ \- seemed genuinely nervous at the idea of making a bad impression.

“I guarantee that you will be just fine,” Seth assured him as the waiter came with menus and a water pitcher to refill what little bit that the two of them had drank while they were waiting.

Dinner went marvelously, as Seth had expected. It was his choice, after all, and if the entire night was to be perfect, it had to start out at the place in town that had been voted “Best Steak” in the major city newspaper for five years straight. For Dean’s sake, not his. It was kind of adorable watching Dean’s face light up at a delicious-looking ribeye and vehemently refusing steak sauce in his excitement because “sauce masks, it doesn’t enhance”.

When the bill came, Seth reached for it immediately, despite Dean’s (polite, since they were in public) protests when it escaped his reach. “Lemme take care of this one just this once, babe,” Dean whined, wiggling his fingers. “I need to see how much my meal was anyway so I can budget coming here once a month for the rest of my life.”

“We’ll come back on your birthday,” Seth chuckled. “Lemme take care of it, you can pay for dessert.” He’d come prepared for such a tab, and even though he’d have to cut back on spoiling himself and Dean for a little bit to cover this dinner and the ring, it was worth it. “You can pick dessert.”

That seemed to appease Dean, even though Seth knew that he would be too happy within the hour to complain about anything for the better part of the next month. After Seth had paid, the two of them got back in the car and headed to Seth’s favorite place, a frozen yogurt place around the corner from his CrossFit gym.

This was easily shaping up to be one of the best nights of Dean’s life. It was a nice night, with the street corner lampposts lit up and the crisp air making Dean want to catch his breath every few minutes. Plus, it didn’t hurt for have a cute guy by his side that was currently tucking into toasted coconut frozen yogurt with strawberries and chopped bananas on top like it was ambrosia from the gods. He, on the other hand, had cookie dough flavored frozen yogurt with nothing else. _Toppings are overrated,_ Dean thought to himself just before he snuck a strawberry off the side of Seth’s cup.

Seth looked at Dean dotingly, getting a banana slice on his spoon and holding it out for him. “Since I know you’re going to pretend like you’re above it otherwise,” his boyfriend said with a smile and a slight wiggle of the spoon. “Open up, mister man.”

Dean obliged as Seth fed him the fruit, holding onto the spoon with his teeth for a second before letting it go and kissing Seth on the cheek. “Toppings are overrated, though,” he said aloud this time, nuzzling Seth’s head for a second before he moved back to just sitting next to him on the bench outside the yogurt shop again.

Dean always thought - usually when the two of them were lying in bed and he couldn’t quite get to sleep - that silence with Seth was completely different than silence with anyone else. It was weird, because while he knew that they weren’t talking, there was a certain electricity between the two of them that never seemed to shut off when they were together. He wouldn’t go as far as to say that their _bodies_ were communicating, but there was definitely something there that made him feel complete whenever Seth was around.

“Hey, babe?” Dean said, waiting until Seth turned to look at him before kissing him gently on the nose. “I love you. You know that, right?”

“I know, and I love you too,” Seth replied, scrunching up his nose and putting his head on Dean’s shoulder. “I actually have something to, uh, show you in a little bit. But don’t rush through eating,” he told him, looking down to see that Dean had only finished about half of his dessert. “It can wait a little bit longer.”

Seth finished off the rest of his cup and leaned over to throw it in the trash, knowing that he was going to have to go through with the proposal soon. Not that he wasn’t excited (obviously the opposite), but he didn’t know what to say. After all, what do you tell the person that you’ve told everything to already? He stuck his hands back in the jacket pockets and felt the ring box with the tips of his fingers gingerly. His entire future with Dean - marriage, kids maybe, everything - was literally right at his fingertips. Talk about daunting.

Dean threw his cup in the trash a second later, apparently not heeding Seth’s advice or throwing a good part of it away. “So what do you have to show me?” Dean asked, wrapping an arm around Seth’s shoulders before pulling back quickly. “Did you get that nipple piercing?! Because I was only kidding when I said that you having one would make you the sexiest guy alive, you’re that already -”

“ _Dean_.” Seth admonished softly, looking around at passerby who were thankfully not paying Dean’s outburst any mind. “We’re in _public_ , and no, I did not get a piercing.”

“Oh.” Dean flushed hot pink.

“But…” Seth continued, trying to segue the conversation where he wanted it to go, “I did get you some jewelry of your own.” He slid off the bench onto one knee slowly, kneeling facing Dean before getting the ring box out of his jacket pocket.

Dean’s hand rose up to cover his mouth, his face turning even redder with surprise as Seth opened the ring box and the engagement ring twinkled slightly in the light of the lampposts. Seth just beamed up at Dean, proud of himself for getting everything together perfectly just as Dean deserved.

“Will you marry me, Dean Ambrose?” A few people stopped for a second to watch from both the frozen yogurt store and the sidewalk, watching as Dean teared up slightly and nodded, taking the ring out of its box and putting it on his left ring finger before nearly launching himself at Seth in happiness.

“Yes, yes, oh my fuckin’ _god_ , babe. Yes!”


	5. The Planning Stages

The logistics of getting married, Seth found, were much harder than those of couples that were just dating or long-term committed. Everyone seemed to have their own ideas about what they wanted in the wedding, despite it being none of their say 99% of the time. Aunts and cousins he hadn’t spoken to in years came out of the woodwork via Facebook or his mother to offer their two cents on everything from locations to hors d'oeuvres. Despite the circumstances that came along with it, Seth had never been happier that Dean didn’t have much of a family tree on his side.

“You know, we can have this engagement as long as you want,” Dean reminded him one morning as Seth pored over a magazine clipping that his Aunt Shelby sent him about groom-and-groom decor. “We can be wrinkly old men and get married at the courthouse fifty years from now.”

Seth grinned, turning around in his chair to look at Dean, who was making pancakes on the stove and absentmindedly fiddling with his ring at the same time. His fiancé - and god, did it feel so good to say that - was always a little fidgety, but it seemed to manifest itself more in playing with his engagement ring now that he always had something that he could toy with on his person.

“You’d really marry me that late? ‘Cause I don’t think that that’s a wise idea, at least as far as filing taxes goes. Technically, you’d still be paying rent.”

Dean clucked his tongue, speaking teasingly. “I _knew_ you were only into all this for tax purposes. I’ve been so blind!”

“Oh, hush, you.” Seth got up from the table and wrapped his arms around Dean’s waist, taking care to not burn himself as he let his hands settle lightly on top of Dean’s stomach. “We both know that’s not true.”

“I know, I know,” Dean assured him, placing his hand over Seth’s for a second. “Now, do you want anything in your pancakes? I’m doing just plain for me, but I know you’d prefer something special.”

“Chocolate chips sound good,” Seth replied, unwrapping himself from around Dean to go over to the pantry and get out the tupperware full of tiny chocolate bits. “If I don’t have time to finish them before I have to go to work, I’ll take them with me, ‘kay?”

“You’ll have time to finish them; go get dressed.” Dean shooed him off with the spatula, Seth barely dodging getting smacked on the ass on his way back to the bedroom. “Wear that skinny red tie today!”

“Will do!” he called back to Dean, scratching Kevin behind the ears as he passed the bed on his way to the closet. One thing was for sure, and that was that Kev was gonna be in the wedding. Probably with a little bowtie collar if he got his way, and with bows in his hair as well if Joelle got hers.

Seth smiled fondly as he thought of the little girl. While he was nowhere at Uncle Dean levels of adoration with Joey, the little girl was still extremely fond of him and made sure that they hung out (with Roman’s permission, of course) at least once a week. He figured that it was partially the fact that he always let her braid his hair when he came over, but also that he just let her talk and talk until she had nothing else left to say. Seth had read somewhere that it was important in order to not stifle a child’s creativity and self-esteem by letting them get out everything they have to say, so if Roman and Dean were busy for whatever reason, he took on that role for them. Of course, he learned some interesting things about Roman and his habits from just letting Joey go on and on, so it was interesting to say the very least.

He chose to wear his black dress slacks for the second day in a row (what his boss didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him) and a nice white button-down to go with the red tie, since Dean insisted. Kevin hopped down from his spot on the bed and hurried into the kitchen when Dean started whistling at the stove, apparently confident that he would get some treats if Seth wasn’t around. “Don’t give him treats this early!” Seth called, despite the fact that he knew Dean would have “forgotten” by the time he came back in. _Ah, well,_ Seth thought to himself. _The little guy’s tiny anyway._

When Seth got back into the kitchen area, there was a plate of chocolate chip pancakes (no syrup, since they were already sweet) placed on top of the magazines he had been looking at prior. “Babe,” he whined a little bit, moving the plate to stack the magazines to the side, “why’d you have to stack it on top of of everything?”

“Because you eating breakfast is more important,” Dean replied simply, coming over to the table with a stack of plain pancakes and the bottle of sugar-free syrup for himself. “I’m being serious when I tell you to stop worrying so much about wedding planning. Think about it, have we changed that much since we got engaged?”

“No…”

“Then why should our routine change that much right now anyway? Look,” Dean continued, covering Seth’s hand with his. “If anyone asks how far we’ve gotten along in planning, just tell them not to worry, just like I’m now telling you. They’re on our schedule, we’re not on theirs to do anything. Alright?”

“Alright.” Seth turned his hand over, squeezing Dean’s. “You know, you make that ring look so good, baby.” He slid his hand down Dean’s to look at the ring that promised Dean that he’d be his forever, turning the finger slightly to see the small diamond glitter ever so slightly in the light. “A beautiful ring for my beautiful man.”

Dean made a slight pouting face. “Sappy, so sappy. Eat your pancakes, okay?” he asked as he pulled his hand back to let Seth do his thing. Seth obliged and started in on his breakfast, acutely aware that he wouldn’t have much time to laze around afterwards before he had to go to work. He hated the fact that he seemed to always be rushing, but his boss, Mr. Helmsley, insisted that if Seth wanted the promotion that he thought he deserved so badly, then he needed to prove how good of an employee he was. That meant being one of the first to arrive and last to leave and sometimes even working through lunch, though he’d never tell Dean that.

Seth finished his pancakes in no time at all, leaning over to kiss Dean sloppily on the cheek before taking his plate to the sink and grabbing his briefcase to head out the door. “Tell Roman I say hi!” he called as he headed out the door to his car. A quick “will do” replied back before he got the door shut, making him beam with happiness. With this good of a morning, the rest of the day was going to go just fine.

* * *

Dean would never admit it, but he loved to get dressed up. Sure, he typically wore jeans and the softest t-shirt in the top drawer in his everyday life, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t be fancy when the situation called for it. It just took a lot of time that he didn’t have to get all dolled up. Seth didn’t mind, saying that he likes Dean “just the way he is”, but Dean figured he would mind if Dean was at the end of the aisle in a pair of sweatpants.

That’s why he enlisted the help of Seth’s friend Nikki, a fellow studio instructor named Summer, and Joey… partially because he wanted her input, and partially because he was supposed to be watching her on his day off anyway.

“Now, none of this makes it back to Seth, alright?” Dean reminded the trio of ladies he had with him in the car. All three of them nodded over their silence-buying frappuccinos (Joey’s being espresso-free because he wasn’t a heathen). “I want this to be a surprise for him. He already has suits and everything, but since I don’t, I have to get fitted.”

“Fitted into what?” Joey asked, whipped cream on her chin.

“A nice suit, Joey-bug. Since Uncle Dean’s marrying Mr. Seth, I have to look really nice since there’s gonna be a lot of pictures.” Dean leaned back once he had the car parked in the store parking lot and wiped her chin. “If you want, you can call him Uncle Seth since he’ll be your uncle now too.”

“Double the uncles, Joelle,” Nikki said with a smile. “Aren’t you a lucky girl?”

“Super lucky,” Joey replied earnestly, smiling back at Nikki and Summer, who was looking back from the front passenger side.

“Well, let’s get a move on, ladies,” Dean announced, opening his car door with gusto. “I’m putting my sense of style in your hands.”

“I wanna get a pink suit!” Joey declared, hurrying out to take Dean’s hand. “We’re gonna get Uncle Dean a pink suit!”

 Summer giggled and took a sip of her frappuccino. “We’ll see, sweetie, we’ll see.”

Thankfully for Dean’s sake, there were no pink suits in sight. There was a white one that stood out against the grays, blacks, and navys that lined the walls, but Nikki had wrinkled her nose, deeming it “too cruise ship singer” to even be worth trying on. Discouraged by the lack of color, Joey had abandoned the group to look at the tie displays, picking her favorites to bring back to the dressing room area to show Nikki and Summer while they were waiting.

“I like the one with the tiny whales,” Summer told the little girl politely. “We’ll have to see if it matches whatever suit your uncle gets, though, okay? But it’s very cool.”

That seemed to please Joey enough to get her to sit down and wait, which was good considering Dean was about to come out in his first suit of the day: a dark bordering on charcoal gray suit that seemed to fit him perfectly… except for in the butt. “You’re sagging back there, Dean,” Summer pointed out, gesturing in the direction of his behind. “Plus the color’s a little weird on you.”

Nikki nodded in agreement. “You need something in a darker, richer color. It’ll make everything else about you stand out.”

“How about this dark blue pinstripe?” the salesman asked, holding up another matching set to the group.

Nikki pondered the option for a moment, before nodding. “Let’s give it a shot.”

The second suit fit him perfectly. “What do you think?” Dean asked, sliding out in his socks and practically strutting toward Summer, Nikki, and Joey. “Do I look good or do I look good?” Joey giggled, covering her mouth with a yellow and black polka-dotted bowtie. “I think this one might be it.”

“I like it,” Summer agreed, toying with the straw on her drink, “but how about we give a couple more a shot? Just to make sure that if this one’s the one, it’s for _sure_ the one, y’know? I mean, you only get married once.”

“Or twice,” Nikki amended with a slight cock of her head. “But she’s right. Let’s try one more, and then we’ll decide between those two.”

The final suit of the trip was a classic Italian-cut black suit, but it didn’t seem to do anything for Dean’s figure in his opinion. Maybe it was because he couldn’t see himself in the black suit as much as he could in the navy pinstripe, but he’d let the other three be the judge of that. That’s what he brought them along for.

“So…” Dean began, straightening the bottom of the jacket. “What do we think?”

“I like the second one better,” Summer and Nikki said at the same time, tickled pink when they realized what they’d done.

“Twinsies!” Dean quipped in a sugary-sweet voice much higher than usual before smirking. “So we agree that the navy pinstripe is where it’s at?”

“Now we can pick out the pretty ties, Uncle Dean,” Joey answered, holding up a red tie. “I like this one.”

Dean knelt down to Joey’s height and took the tie from her gently, examining it. “I like this one too, Joey-bug. But we’ll look at those after I get back into my regular clothes, alright?” She nodded, smiling when he tousled her hair. “Good girl. Here, wait outside with the ladies some more and then we can work on everything else.”

As Dean was changing back into his jeans and top-shelf-softest tee, he couldn’t help but beam at himself in the mirror. How lucky was he, to be engaged to the love of his life?  A little over a year ago, he couldn’t even imagine dating someone long-term, much less moving in with them and getting engaged. _Look at you now, Dean-o,_ a voice in his head said proudly. _Look at how far you’ve come._

* * *

Even though all signs pointed to Seth being a micro-managing groomzilla in the time leading up to the wedding, he managed to hold it together better than he had originally thought. The wedding took place seven months and two weeks to the day they got engaged, and the two of them had surprised everyone by pulling it together in such a short period of time.

( _Well,_ Seth thought to himself, _no one had to know how much of the planning was his mother and Roman’s aunts’ doing._ )

Because neither of them were religious, they opted to get married in an event hall downtown rather than a church. Decorations didn’t take much; everything was pretty basic to begin with, and that wasn’t counting what Nikki’s sister Brie had insisted on having Seth make from Pinterest. “You’re going to _love_ the succulent and marigold boutonnieres, Sethie,” Brie told him over Skype one day, holding up one from where she was all the way in Washington state with her husband. “Daniel and I had ones with lilies for our wedding, and everyone complimented how structured yet natural they looked.” Seth just nodded and smiled, hoping they’d make the flight with Brie and Daniel safely.

Roman’s family insisted on handling the food. “Nothing crazy now,” Dean had teasingly warned Roman’s mother when she staked her claim on that part of the arrangements. “You have to remember that Seth’s family’s from Iowa and all.”

“My family will be fine with whatever you make,” Seth said as he wrapped his arms around Dean, one hand covering his mouth so he couldn’t be sassy anymore. “Really.”

Dean tried to take the brunt of the wedding planning upon himself, insisting that since he had more free time that Seth that it only made sense that he would take care of it. The two of them fought a lot over that; Seth saying that Dean was wearing himself out for no reason, and Dean taking the offensive saying that if the wedding was “no reason” to Seth, then why were they getting married in the first place?

“Because I love you, stupid, you know that,” Seth reminded him every time, crossing his arms over his chest. “We’re doing this because we love each other.”

Usually Dean would melt a little at that and let Seth walk over, sit him down, and hug him until they were both calm, but it was getting harder and harder to make that happen as the wedding loomed near. If anything, Dean was growing more erratic; his go-with-the-flow tendencies out the window a long time ago. Finally, the final straw showed up two weeks before the wedding to shake everyone up.

Roman was in the studio handling the books late one night, so Seth had offered to keep Joey overnight and get her to preschool in the morning. It was nothing new, and the little girl loved spending time with her Uncle Dean and her new Uncle Seth. “Her mother might have tried to load her up on sugar before she’s dropping her off to mess with me - well, you two, today,” Roman warned. “Just remind her that her bedtime is nine because this is a special occasion but it can always be earlier if she starts goofing up.”

“Will do, captain,” Dean had replied from the couch where Joelle was sleeping in between him and Seth. After all, this was nothing new for him, Seth figured. Just a different place to sleep one night.

The first part of the night went swimmingly. Seth made chicken nuggets for the three of them while Dean was on the phone with the venue fixing their reservation to _five_ hours, not six. “I don’t think you understand, ma’am,” Seth could hear Dean from the hallway, pacing, “When we first made the reservation, we explicitly said that it was _five_. Six hours is an extra one-fifty that we don’t have.”

“Uncle Seth?” Joey asked, tugging on the hem of Seth’s shirt from where she was standing next to him in the kitchen. “Has Uncle Dean eaten his nuggets yet?”

“I don’t think so, Jo,” Seth replied, yawning a little bit and taking a bite of one of the potato wedges he’d just gotten out of the oven. _Shit, that’s hot!_

“D’ya want me to go tell him that it’s dinner time now?” she continued, looking up at Seth, whose mouth was full of hellfire and brimstone-hot potato. Seth tried to swallow what he could, accidentally nodding his head in the process. “Okay!” Joey replied, smiling and running off into the hallway.

Seth couldn’t have stopped her if he’d sprinted. “Uncle Dean, Uncle Dean!” Joey called, running at his legs and holding on tight. “It’s dinner time!”

“Joey, go back in with Uncle Seth,” he heard Dean say as Seth skidded into the hallway himself.

“But it’s dinner time!” Joey repeated, sounding a little petulant at him not immediately following her plan. “We made nuggets!”

“Seth, could you…?” Dean asked, hand covering the top of his phone for privacy.

Seth nodded and knelt down, tongue still feeling like cooked meat in his mouth, and tried to pry Joey off his fiancé’s leg. “C’mon, Jo…”

“No! I’m not eating without Uncle Dean!”

Something in Dean’s face changed. Joey was still hooked to Dean’s leg, unaware of the situation, but Seth was so startled at the difference that he leaned back.

Dean’s voice was ice cold as he looked down at the two of them. “Joey, get the _fuck_ back in the kitchen, _now_.”

Silence hung heavy in the air for a second before Joey let go of Dean’s leg, tearing off to the bedroom in tears. Seth hung back for a second before following her, already hearing the little girl’s sobs against the comforter before he even got in the doorway.

“Uncle Dean’s mad at me,” Joey sniffled when she saw Seth at the door, looking absolutely pitiful. “I’m not gon’ be the flower girl no more.”

“You’ll still be the flower girl, Joey-bug,” Seth assured her, sitting next to her on the bed and stroking her hair when she sat up. “Uncle Dean was just on the phone and he was really tired with the lady on the phone. Believe me, he still loves you very much.”

Joey wiped her eyes. “Really?”

“Really,” Seth replied, leaning down to pull her into his lap and give her a hug. “I’m sure once he gets off the phone he’ll apologize and eat dinner with us, no problem. He didn’t mean it.”

At that moment, Kevin crawled out from where he was under the bed. “Hey buddy,” Seth said softly, watching the dog as he blinked up at the two of them. “You wanna give Joey-bug some Kevin-snuggles?” The little yorkie obliged, letting Seth pick him up and place him on the bed before pawing at Joey and licking her face.

“Eww,” she whined in between giggles, covering her face as Kevin nudged himself into her lap. Seth chuckled, wiping Joey’s face gently when there was a knock on the open bedroom door.

“A-Am I allowed in?” Dean’s voice asked quietly from where he was in the doorway. Seth could tell moreso now that he was extremely stressed out, given how wild his hair was from running his hands through it and the fact that he’d been wearing the same shirt for the past three days. Now he had his hands shoved deep in his front jean pockets and looked more apologetic than Seth had ever seen him, no matter how intense their arguments had gotten. Still, it was up to Joey if she wanted to talk right now. Seth looked at her for approval.

“Yeah,” Joey said softly, walking across the bed from Kevin and Seth on her knees to the edge and holding her arms out to Dean. “I want a big Uncle Dean hug.”

Dean smiled gratefully and walked over to hug his honorary niece, kneeling down and picking her up to hold her close in his arms. “I’m so sorry I talked to you like that, Joey-bug,” he apologized quietly, stroking her hair. “Adults aren’t supposed to use those words, especially not with little kids, and I’m really sorry.” He looked back at her head over his shoulder. “Do you forgive me?”

Joey nodded, putting her head back flat on Dean’s shoulder. “Yeah,” she replied, hugging back around his neck. The look on Dean’s face made Seth himself smile as well. He looked so relieved, like a giant weight that he’d walked into the room with had been lifted off of his chest.

“Thank you, sweetie,” Dean said after a minute, hugging the little girl tight against him and kissing the side of her head. “You wanna eat your chicken nuggets and taters now, hm?”

“Yes, please,” Joey said with another hug, showing no signs of getting put back down anytime soon. “I want ice cream too; I’ll eat all my dinner for ice cream.”

Seth laughed, remembering he’d picked up a pint of Ben and Jerry’s Phish Food for that reason alone. “We’ll see, Jo. C’mon, let’s go eat.”

Dean cleared his throat as they walked back to the dining room area. “And Joey?”

“Uh-huh?”

“Don’t tell your daddy what I said.”


	6. The Big Bang

The day of the wedding started off rainy, which Dean immediately saw as a bad omen. Admittedly, Dean was growing prone to looking at everything as a bad omen in one way or another, but he chalked that up to pre-wedding jitters more than anything else. “You’re worrying too much,” Seth told him when he found Dean at the window staring out at the sky earlier that morning. “I’m sure it’ll all be gone by the time we get to the hall.

“Besides,” Seth continued after he kissed Dean on the cheek, “you love the smell of rain.”

The two of them didn’t bother to adhere to the “no seeing the other before the ceremony” tradition. It wasn’t plausible to begin with, since they lived together and neither of them saw the purpose in having bachelor parties the night before, much less separate ones. That had outright shocked Seth’s boss (Hunter, with whom he was now on a first-name basis with), who told him that it wasn’t a _real_ wedding unless there was mischief beforehand.

“Night before I got married, my best friend Shawn and I, he took me out drinking, and…” Hunter trailed off, turning red for some reason. “Anyway, Seth, at least have a honeymoon? At least do that for yourself.”

“I thought you would rather have me in the office as soon as possible after the wedding, sir,” Seth explained. “I think it’s a little late for me to ask for time off anyway.”

“Nonsense,” Hunter interrupted him, waving a hand. “Week off, my treat. Take… Dean, right? That’s his name? Take Dean somewhere nice.”

Seth smiled. “Thank you, sir. I’ll see you Saturday, still?”

“Of course, Mr. Rollins.” Then Hunter smirked. “Consider the time off your wedding present from Stephanie and I. She was going to get you something off your registry, but I feel like you’ll enjoy this more.”

Seth had taken the time out that night to plan a road trip beginning the day after the wedding. Dean had always wanted to see Texas for some reason, so to Houston they would go. He had already arranged for Roman to watch Kevin while they were away.

Piling their covered suits and the rest of the decorations into the back of Seth’s car, they drove to the venue to put the finishing touches on the place and get ready themselves. Seth drove, reaching a hand over when they were about halfway there to hold Dean’s. Dean smiled softly, taking his beloved’s hand and holding it tight like he was afraid to let go.

“Aren’t you excited, baby?” Seth asked softly, eyes still on the road. “We already belonged to each other, of course, but now it’ll be _official_. You’ll be officially mine; I’ll be officially yours.”

“I’m super excited,” Dean assured him, squeezing Seth’s hand. “I’m just letting it all soak over me for a little bit. Got a lot on my mind.”

“Is… is it because your mom isn’t here?” Seth asked cautiously, knowing that it was a touchy subject.

Dean scoffed. “Nah. Still don’t know where to find her, but I wouldn’t want her here anyway. I don’t think she deserves to see me happy anymore. But Chris’s here, so I at least have someone from way back when that matters to me.”

“I remember him asking if we needed music at the reception.” Seth said with a grin. “He has a band?”

Dean groaned. “I’m so glad you didn’t encourage that idea. _So_ glad.”

The two of them arrived at the hall and hurried inside with their things. Most everything was set up for them either by the staff or themselves the day before, so it was just making sure that the table decorations and the flowers made it where they needed to be. Nikki showed up about a half-hour after they did, already in her maid of honor gown and looking flawless despite the weather.

“Looks like you didn’t need me to be here after all,” she quipped, taking a seat at one of the tables and taking out her phone. “Now, did you decide on a hashtag for the wedding photos?”

“A hashtag?” Dean repeated, wrinkling his nose.

“Yeah, like something to make it easy to find pictures that people took while they were here. I know you hired a photographer for the professional stuff, but it’s good to have fun things for the guests as well.”

“I, uh…” Seth looked at Dean, who shrugged. “You wanna think of something? You’re pretty good at that.”

“Most couples do something like smashing their names together a la Brangelina,” Nikki offered. “What would you guys be?”

“Sean? No, that’s an actual name. Ambrollins?” Dean looked between the two of them.

“I kinda like that one,” Seth replied. “Are there any other options? Dean and Seth together makes… oh my god.”

“What?” Dean asked.

“A portmanteau for our first names is Death. _Death_.” Nikki and Seth both managed to look startled at that revelation, while Dean just grinned.

“That’s so metal.”

* * *

The ceremony was beautiful. Nikki looked stunning as Seth’s maid of honor (because she insisted that ‘best _____’ was not an appropriate title for two people to share). Roman (Dean’s best man) and Joey were on Dean’s side, Joey holding onto her father’s hand with one hand and her small Easter basket filled with flower petals in the other. When it was time to read their vows, however, there was a bit of a snafu.

“I… are you sure you want me to read the _whole_ thing?” Dean blushed as the room tittered with laughter. His vows covered both sides of a sheet of notebook paper, corrections lining the margins. “We didn’t really agree on the whole vows thing beforehand…”

“I’m positive,” Seth said with a smile, taking the hand that Dean wasn’t using to hold the paper that held his wedding vows. His remained in his pants pocket for now. “If you feel comfortable saying it all and you want to say it all, then go ahead.”

“I… okay,” Dean agreed, clearing his throat. “Seth, you make me the happiest man alive. For a long time, I thought that -” he got choked up all of a sudden, face turning blotchy. “Sorry, sorry. For a long time, I thought that I was going to be single forever. Not _alone_ , since I have Roman and Joelle and their family and everyone else, but single. I was pretty convinced that I wasn’t meant to be with someone like how I’m now with you.” Dean wiped the hand holding the paper across his face. _I’m too nervous for this,_ a voice in Dean’s head whispered. _Keep going,_ said another, softer than the one before and sounding oddly like the man in front of him. _You’re doing great._

“I’m so proud to be your fiancé and in like, ten minutes, your husband. When we’re together, I can’t help but think about how lucky I am to be with you. If I really believed in karma and all that bad sh - _stuff_ that happened to me when I was little mattered right now, then I know I got what I deserved in return. Tenfold.” Dean could hear Seth’s mother sniffle slightly from where she was next to her husband in the front row. Before they had began, she had hugged him tight and told him that he could call her Mom from now on if he wanted to. He’d told her at the time that he’d think about it, but he could tell that she knew deep down that he’d really said yes.

“I can’t wait to kiss you in front of all these people,” he continued, eliciting another laugh from the audience, “even though most of them have seen it before anyway.”

“A _lot_ ,” Joey piped up from where she was next to Roman, making Dean grin especially wide as Roman tried to cover up his laughter and shush her at the same time.

“My only regret is that I wasn’t able to meet you sooner, if only so I could have had even a couple more months with you. But we have the rest of our lives to be together, and I think that will be enough.” Dean folded the paper back up, unable to meet Seth’s watery eyes for a second. “So… yeah. Those are my vows.”

Seth almost barked out a laugh, wiping his eyes with his free hand and not letting go of Dean’s. “Okay, my turn. ‘S not as good as yours was -”

“Don’t be like that,” Dean admonished him softly, squeezing Seth’s hand.

“I’m gonna give it a shot anyway.” He took out his vows from his pocket and unfolded them. “Dean, I can honestly say that I think I loved you from the moment I saw you. And while Nikki gets credit where credit is due for pushing me into the studio to actually meet you, I am so glad that I actually took the initiative to get your number. And text you that same night to take you out, too. I’m stubborn, what can I say?”

Dean chuckled. Seth guessed that he was thinking that he’d call him a lot of things, stubborn  being only the tip of the iceberg.

“I’ve spent a lot of my life looking for something, something that I thought was missing. I had a career path, my health, friends, family… but not someone who completed me. Dean Ambrose - and I know this is going to make you either cry or groan - you complete me.” Seth looked up from the paper to see Dean about half a second from bawling. “Okay, crying it is then. C’mere.” He pulled Dean by the hand to hug him close, head over Dean’s shoulder turned to the audience. “If we don’t kiss, see,” he explained, smiling gently and rubbing Dean’s back with the hand holding his vows, “it’s not cheating before the ‘I do’.”

After about thirty seconds, Dean pulled away, still holding Seth’s hand but rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “Sorry,” he mumbled under his breath, obviously embarrassed.

“It’s okay, babe,” Seth assured him before starting again. “I love you so much, and I am so looking forward to spending the rest of my life with you, one day at a time. Whatever we do, wherever we go, you’ll never be alone. You… you will always have me.”

As soon as Seth finished speaking, Dean launched forward, holding Seth’s face with both hands and kissing him, nearly making the two of them stumble back into Nikki by accident. Seth steadied himself after a moment, holding Dean’s hips and kissing him back soundly, pulling away after a moment.

“Sorry,” Dean gasped out, not taking his eyes off Seth. “I just… I had to.”

“It’s okay,” Seth said, kissing Dean’s cheek as Dean just realized the audience of what had just happened. At least Joey managed to look unimpressed.

The presiding justice of the peace made a sort of “hem” noise, pulling the two of them back to the present and where they were supposed to be in front of her. Despite his best efforts, Dean couldn’t stop blushing.

“Do you take each other to be your lawfully-wedded husband?”

“I do,” both Dean and Seth answered, looking each other in the eyes.

And that was all they needed to say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies are in order for the chapter length, the shameless Hunter/Shawn tease, and insulting Fozzy (except not really).
> 
> Hopefully the next chapter will be more than worth it, as it changes the rating, if you know what I mean. ;)


	7. The Bigger Bang

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaand here's what changes the content rating. Enjoy. ;)

The two of them got home by ten at night, much earlier than they’d actually expected since they helped to clean up after the reception as well. Dean was all over Seth more than he usually was, having held his new husband’s hand the entire time at the reception (with the exception of when Seth had to use the restroom, of course).

“It’s a good thing that we got back before midnight,” Seth thought aloud, stretching as he undid his tie and tossed it down on the bedspread next to a stirring Kevin. “We have to head out early tomorrow.”

“What time are we leaving tomorrow morning? I know we’re dropping Kev off before we go,” Dean said, scratching the little angel on the side of his neck. “But are we getting breakfast beforehand?”

“You want to go to Waffle House?” Seth asked, knowing it wasn’t even a question. Dean tried to keep his appetite at least somewhat subdued at home (insisting that his abs weren’t going to show themselves), but when Dean got to Waffle House, he ate like a total pig.

“God, yes,” Dean said with a moan, lying down on the bed. “I’m gonna eat the entire menu and two waffles. No, three.”

“So I’ll be driving the first leg of the trip while you sleep off your food baby,” Seth translated, going over to Dean and sitting on his lap, looking back at him. “Alright, we can make that work. I think we’ll have to get a hotel room around Arkansas or something, though, unless we go nonstop through the night switching.”

“‘Nonstop through the night switching’ sounds like a _wonderful_ idea right now,” Dean replied in a sultry voice, sitting up with some difficulty and wrapping his arms around Seth’s front. “You look so good in your suit, babe, but I think you’ll look better with it off you…”

“Mm,” Seth replied, turning his head to look at Dean, who had already begun to pepper kisses down the side of Seth’s neck. “Someone’s especially charming tonight. Wonder why that could be?”

“Because I’ve got the best - sexiest - most wonderful _husband_ ever,” Dean answered between kisses. “And now that he’s all mine ‘til death do us part, I wanted to give him a little special somethin’.”

Seth grinned, covering Dean’s arms with his and guiding them further down between his legs. “Is this ‘special something’ going to be slow or fast tonight? Because I’ve been on my feet an awful lot today, and while I usually love you piledriving me -” he felt a sharp tug of arousal in his own groin at that - “I don’t know how good it’ll be for you if tired old me comes in ten seconds.”

“You’re always good for me,” Dean insisted as Seth felt his husband’s nimble fingers work at the buttons of his pants to slide them off. “But I want you to feel ‘specially good, so we’ll take it slow.”

“In sickness and in health and in quickies and in love-making,” Seth joked, pressing his hips forward into Dean’s touch when he finally got below the top layer of clothing. “We can speed through the undressing part, though.” He lifted off of Dean slightly, pushing his pants and underwear to the floor as Dean did the same. Considering that the material was nice, the pants probably should’ve been hung up, but Seth figured that was a problem for future him to deal with.

Dean set to work unbuttoning Seth’s vest and shirt, pushing those off of him to the other side of the bed as Seth returned the favor. Looking over Dean’s body was always a treat for Seth, with Dean’s taut muscles that rivaled his own and nipples that begged to be sucked on as soon as they pebbled in the fresh air. He did just that once he had the space, nose against the right side of Dean’s chest as he went to town, lapping his tongue over the sensitive area first. His hair fell over his face from either side, not getting in his way but apparently annoying Dean, who leaned over to the nightstand for a moment before coming back and pulling Seth’s hair out of the way.

“I want to see that beautiful face of yours,” Dean said with a slight rumble in his voice, pulling Seth’s hair through what Seth now realized was a hair tie he’d left on the countertop from the night before and making a loose bun. “I want to see that face you make when you come.”

Seth made a throaty noise that he was pretty sure was some weird hybrid between a moan and a whimper, pulling off of Dean’s nipple with a soft wet noise before leaning up in his husband’s face. Dean couldn’t manage to keep a sexy face to save his life when Seth was looking him in the eye, instead grinning like an idiot before their lips met.

“You wanna take me on all fours or what?” Seth asked, licking his lips after they pulled away. Dean put his hands at Seth’s hips, dragging their cocks together slowly, and Seth knew that Dean had something else in mind.

“I said I wanted to see that face, didn’t I?” Dean reminded him, licking the palm of one of his hands before reaching down to stroke Seth’s cock slowly. He stopped at the head, making Seth’s lower body tense in pleasure before lifting his hand. “I’m gonna fuck you the good old-fashioned way.”

Seth couldn’t stop the moan that left his mouth at Dean’s indication, body going slightly slack as Dean turned the tables out from under him and got on top. “D-Dean, baby,” Seth tried to croon as Dean slid a finger between Seth’s ass cheeks. “Don’t tease me, you know I’m good -”

“Good enough for me to slide right in,” Dean finished for him, backing off slightly. Seth had no idea how Dean managed to stay completely collected when he was turned on like this. He himself seemed to turn into a sweaty, debauched mess at the drop of a hat. “You’re not going to deny me my own personal joy of eating ass, though, babe.” Dean dipped his head down between Seth’s legs, completely ignoring his cock and going straight for Seth’s hole. Seth writhed under his husband’s touch, feeling the muscles in his ass and thighs tighten and relax while the muscles around his hole relaxed instinctively, as if they knew what was to follow.

Dean pushed himself back to eye level a minute later, licking his lips and smirking like he’d just told the filthiest joke in the world. “I almost liked that better than the wedding cake.”

( _Okay,_ Seth thought. _Maybe he just did._ )

“C’mon and fuck me already, babe,” Seth heard himself demand, lifting his hips up into a low bridge. “You can take it slow once you’re inside me.”

“Thought you wanted me slow,” Dean replied innocently, sitting back all the way up on his haunches, still smirking down at Seth. “I wouldn’t want you to come too soon and spoil your own fun.”

“What about your fun?” Seth asked, eyes falling from Dean’s face to his lower body, which he was lining up to rock into Seth’s.

“Oh, baby,” Dean half-moaned as he pressed forward and entered Seth, “I always have fun when I’m with you.”


	8. Take It Easy

Early the next morning, Dean woke up before Seth only to find the other man still asleep and still attached to the left side of his chest like he had been when the two of them had fallen asleep the night before. The only movement other than his own in the room was Kevin, who was kicking his hind legs in his sleep at the foot of the bed. Dean turned to check the clock. _5:06 AM._

He groaned, remembering something that Seth had said before he dozed off about being out of the house by 6, having eaten by 7, and getting on the highway as soon as possible. As much as he wanted to say _screw that_ and fall back asleep with his arms around his husband, Dean knew in his heart of hearts that Seth would be a little disappointed if his plans didn’t come to fruition. “Babe,” he whispered, rubbing circles in Seth’s shoulder blade gently. “Time to get up, sleepyhead.”

“Mmf?” Seth replied, lifting his head a little off Dean’s chest. “G’back to sleep.”

“You wanted us up so we could pack, ‘member?” Dean scooted up a little bit in bed so they could both wake up more and still have Seth against him. “I’ll make you coffee if you get up with me.”

“‘Kay,” Seth agreed sleepily, pushing himself up and off Dean slowly to sit on the side of the bed and rub his eyes. “I think I’m still overstimmed from yesterday. Coffee alone just might not do it for me this time ‘round.” Kevin snuffled as he woke up (likely from hearing his masters’ voices) and walked across the bed to flop down next to Seth. “Hey buddy,” Seth cooed softly, scratching Kevin’s stomach.

“We’ll worry ‘bout that later,” Dean assured him, opting to leave the bed unmade since it didn’t matter much in the grand scheme of things at the moment. “I’m glad we took showers last night now.” He went over to the closet, pulling his and Seth’s suitcases out of the back. “The trip’s five days, right? So five pairs of underwear each, three pairs of pants, four or so shirts, et cetera, et cetera.”

“Something like that,” Seth said, standing up and stretching, hearing his back pop on the bend. “Jesus _Christ_.” He winced. “That was… fuck, am I getting old?” Seth was obviously awake now, looking at Dean who peeked back up from the dresser when he heard the pop. “I’ve never had that happen before.”

“Wiggle your toes and stuff to make sure you’ve still got it,” Dean suggested, not sure what else to say. He always thought that Seth worked out too hard in the gym, but Antonio, who also did CrossFit, assured Dean that that was the point. “I keep telling you that CrossFit is ridiculous.” He reached back into the drawer to pick up socks for the both of them. “Though I can’t complain about the abs.”

“You never did before,” Seth said smugly as he obliged in wiggling his fingers and toes. “Everything seems to still be in working order.” He walked past Dean, curling an arm around him and kissing his cheek for a half-second before disappearing down the dark hallway. “You want coffee too, babe?”

“Yes, please,” Dean replied gratefully as he dug through the bottom drawer to find a pair of jeans for Seth that actually fit him properly. All the ones he wore on a regular basis were either bought while Seth was in high school and/or rattier-looking than Dean’s, and that was saying something.

Meanwhile, Kev trotted to the end of the bed to look at Dean, resting his head on his paws. “Aw, hey, buddy.” He scratched the top of the little dog’s head, smiling when it closed its eyes and lowered further onto the bed. “That’s a good boy, huh? You gonna be good for Roman and Joey while Daddy and I are gone? You love Joey.”

Seth returned with a mug of coffee in each hand, Dean’s slightly milkier based on appearances alone. “Coffee for the working man,” Seth announced, passing him the mug carefully so Dean wouldn’t burn his hands on the heat going to the outside. “You know what we should get?”

“What?” Dean asked before taking a swig and setting his coffee down on the top of the dresser so he could finish the packing.

“We should get matching ‘husband’ mugs.” Seth looked nearly giddy at the very idea while Dean had to hold back a sudden burst of laughter. “What?” Seth asked, pouting. “I think it’d be cute.”

“It might be,” Dean admitted, drinking some more coffee, “but let’s ease up on the spending for right now. Did you find the mugs on Pinterest or something?”

“ _No_ ,” Seth said defensively, before softening. “Well… maybe.”

Dean just chuckled and zipped up his suitcase, walking over to Seth and kissing him on the forehead. “Stick it on a wishlist board and wait ‘til Christmas.”

* * *

The two of them were on the road officially heading to Texas about two and a half hours later. Seth looked delightfully smug from what Dean could see out of the corner of his eye, likely because his plan was going swimmingly. _It’s the little things in life,_ Dean thought to himself with a smile, reaching over the center console to hold Seth’s hand in his.

“Look at the two of us, going out to explore the wild blue yonder,” Seth said as he accepted Dean’s outstretched hand and squeezed it tight. “And I can’t think of anyone better than my husband to do this with.”

“Oh, what am I now?” Dean replied with feigned ignorance, taking his eyes off the road for a moment to look surprised at Seth.

“My _husband_ ,” Seth repeated, obviously knowing what Dean was trying to do and lifting their joined hands to kiss the back of Dean’s. “I know it’ll get annoying real fast if I keep saying it like that, but I can’t help it. It just sounds so good.”

“I don’t know what type of hotels we’ll be staying at yet though, dear, so you might want to rein the love in just ever so slightly.” Dean squeezed Seth’s hand back. “But I think we’ll be fine while we’re down there. I can’t wait to get my hands on one of those ten-gallon hats.”

Driving in the morning was easy for Dean, especially since they merged into the highway before rush hour and have been cruising ever since. Seth, to his credit, tried to stay awake and be decent company for the first two hours before passing out in the passenger’s side, seat belt still on but legs pulled up against his chest like a tiny hibernating bearcub. When Dean realized the situation, he just chuckled to himself and turned on the road trip playlist that he and Seth had come up with for some background noise. “At least you tried,” Dean mumbled quietly, eyes on the road ahead of him.

When lunchtime came around, so did the changing of the guard. Dean pulled into a rest stop with three different food options - burgers, pizza, and some chicken place he’d never heard of but smelled _heavenly_ \- for he and Seth to partake in before hitting the road. “Babe,” Dean whispered, unbuckling his own seat belt before moving to undo Seth’s, “it’s lunchtime, c’mon. C’mon you, wake up.”

Seth grumbled and groaned a little bit, brushing his hair out of his face as he slowly came to. “Lunchtime?” he asked, making Dean lean back and open his car door.

“Sure is, sleepyhead. And after we get done in here, it’s your turn to drive.”

“Fine, fine,” Seth grumbled again as he sat up and yawned. “I have a demand to make too, though,” he continued as he rubbed his eyes.

“And what is that, my dear husband?” Dean asked, getting out of the car and shutting the door.

“You let me get diet Mountain Dew without the judgement face.” Seth grinned while Dean groaned. “What? It’s fizzy and fruity and you’re just a hater.” Seth got out of the car as well, patting his back pocket to check for his wallet in a way that made Dean’s eyes immediately follow the trail to his ass. “You _perv_.”

“You’re my husband, I’m allowed to perv,” Dean said tenderly, raising an eyebrow before slinging his arm around Seth’s shoulders. “C’mon, you. Greasy gas station food awaits.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title's from one of the songs (by The Eagles) on [the playlist](http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOGuo_e63pfmmmrbATlvcW3r3Mp_bL8tc) that I definitely didn't make for Seth and Dean to listen on repeat while on their way down to Texas. Apologies for it being a YouTube playlist rather than one of them fancy 8tracks ones, but you get the idea. (Plus, I want you all to have the mental image of the two of them listening to Fetty Wap unironically.)


	9. The Honeymooners

The two of them got into Houston that night, Seth checking them into a hotel alone (just to avoid the awkward “oh, do both of you boys need your own beds?” question) while Dean searched on his phone to see what restaurants were in the area. Seth mentally prayed that Dean was going to pick something the slightest bit healthy; while he loved the greasy burger he’d had for lunch, he couldn’t get into the habit of turning cheat meals into cheat days and then cheat weeks and so on.

(Besides, he needed to get to the gym for all that wedding cake he’d put down the night before.)

He came back with the package of two hotel keys, tapping on the driver’s side window before pressing them against the glass and grinning at Dean’s confused face. “Get the bags, baby,” Seth said when Dean rolled the window down, giving him a key of his own. “We’ve got ourselves a place.”

Dean got out of the car after taking the key and rolling the window back up, wrapping his arms around Seth’s waist just tight enough to make Seth feel perfectly secure. “I’ve already got myself a place right here with you,” Dean cooed, making Seth scrunch up his nose in mock disgust.

“You’re a sap on top of being a perv now. C’mon, I want to get our stuff upstairs so we can go eat.” Seth threw his arms around Dean’s shoulders. “Where’d you find for us?”

“Burger King,” Dean whispered earnestly, laughing as Seth flicked the back of his head in frustration. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. There’s a place ‘round the corner that has kale salads and all that jazz; it’s right up your alley. I’ll suffer through that, I guess. For you.”

“For me,” Seth said, kissing Dean softly and quickly before untangling himself from his husband’s grasp. “Let’s get upstairs now, also for me.” He went around to the back and took out their suitcases, throwing his own over his shoulder and passing Dean his. “We’re on the third floor, I think we can make it.”

“Sure hope so,” Dean replied, and they went upstairs to their room, Seth thinking the entire way that while this wasn’t much of a honeymoon in terms of destination, he had the week all organized with all the sights of the area to see, right down to the day. If Dean wanted to see the city, well, his wish was Seth’s command.

As soon as they were inside, Dean flopped down on the bed, sprawling his arms out to either side of the covers and turning his head to look at Seth. “The mattress is firm with a slight bounce,” he reported as Seth tried to take him seriously and unpack their toiletries for the week to put them in the bathroom. “I personally recommend all-fours, on our sides, and maybe me riding you, since your back tends to get a little stiff.”

Seth leaned back out of the bathroom to make sure Dean saw him raising an eyebrow. “Did you just offer me sexual positions like a waiter suggests wine pairings?”

Dean smirked, winking at Seth. “Maybe.”

“You’re ridiculous.” Seth dipped back into the bathroom, getting their toothbrushes situated before coming back out and sitting on the side of the bed, looking down at his husband. “You are easily the most ridiculous man I have ever met.”

“But you love me,” Dean replied cheerily, blowing Seth a kiss. “You ready to go out and get dinner? I think I’ll let you pick out what I eat tonight.” He put his hands on his stomach, shaking them like he actually had any flab on that perfect body Seth loved so much. “We don’t want me becoming a chubby hubby or anything. Even though that’s an amazing flavor of Ben & Jerry’s.” He paused. “Great, now I want ice cream.”

Seth laughed, tousling Dean’s hair lightly. “Let’s go eat before you starve to death. I promise I’ll pick out something you like.”

“You better,” Dean warned jokingly as he sat up. “I love you very much, but I refuse to eat anything that could be legally considered ‘mystery meat’.” 

* * *

The honeymoon went swimmingly, as Seth had expected it would. He had planned it, after all, and like everything else Seth did in life, it wasn’t even _close_ to being half-assed. At first, Dean protested the itinerary, proclaiming it “boring” and how he “just wanted to relax” on his honeymoon, not be dragged around places. That defense lasted all of five minutes before Seth reminded him that Dean’s idea of “relaxing” was being in front of the TV all day, and they could have done that at home.

“Besides,” Seth said, going over to the armchair that Dean was currently sitting in to watch TV and sitting on his lap, “I thought you wanted that ten-gallon hat, and we both know how good you’d look with _just_ that on.”

Dean smirked. “Already using sex as a tool to get me to do things. I definitely picked a winner.” He put a hand up to Seth’s face and kissed him deeply, Seth returning the action immediately.

“Hey,” Seth said with mock indignance as he pulled away from the kiss, “I’ve been using sex as a tool for a while now. This is just the first time you’re calling me out on it.”

The two of them took the city by storm after that, starting out with the Space Museum and the Johnson Space Center, Seth taking a ton of pictures when Dean tried astronaut ice cream and discovered that it really did taste like the same thing, just crumbly.

Next was the Galleria, which was more of an excuse for Seth to buy expensive souvenirs than anything else until they came across a store that specialized in ranchwear and other leather goods. “Maybe I should get some assless chaps while I’m at it,” Dean whispered in Seth’s ear as the salesperson led them to the hat area. “Have ‘em matching and I’ll wear them both at the same time.”

Seth didn’t ask to get turned on in a shopping mall, answering Dean with a light shove and shaking his head no. “Sorry, cowboy. I’m not _that_ invested in the fantasy.”

Fifteen minutes later, Dean had a black cowboy hat perfectly sized to his head. “It has George Strait’s name on it,” he said as he showed Seth, sounding a little excited. “You can’t really see it when I’m wearing it ‘cause it’s so small on there, but check me out.” Dean tipped the hat on his head, giving Seth what he could only describe as “the eye”. “I’m practically George Strait.”

Despite it not really matching any of the clothes that Dean had packed to wear in Houston, Dean wore it for the rest of the trip as often as possible. There was a marked difference between the pictures Seth took of Dean before they’d bought the hat and those from after he’d bought it, and the biggest one was just _that damn hat_.

“You know, babe,” Seth tried to persuade him on the fourth night after the two of them got back from the Houston Zoo. “Maybe you should leave the hat at home for the rest of the trip. Just for safety reasons.”

“Safety reasons?” Dean repeated, cocking his head, his hat still on. “What, you think someone’s gonna steal this bad boy right off my head?”

“No, not that,” Seth explained, stretching his arms over his head and taking off his shirt. “Just to keep it nice and clean. Think about it: you take it off and it gets dirty, a bird flies over you and shits on it -”

“And a pig will fly over me and eat the top of the hat clean off,” Dean teased goodnaturedly, taking off his hat and chucking it at Seth. “Put it in the box. I think I looked pretty corny wearing it today with a polo shirt anyway.”

“Actually,” Seth said, doing as Dean asked, “that was the best outfit you wore with it so far.” 

* * *

On the day before their last day in Houston, Seth got a phone call from Roman. While that wouldn’t be unusual at any other time, they had specifically asked Roman _not_ to call unless it was an emergency and he and Dean needed to come back home immediately. Roman had promised to honor their request, so Seth was more than a little concerned to say the least.

“Hello?” Seth answered after just one ring, already anxious. Dean looked concerned as well from where he could see Seth in the bathroom mirror. “Roman?”

“Uncle Seth?” a tiny voice asked in reply, making him relax visibly for a moment until she spoke again. “Uncle Seth, you have to come home _now_. Kevin’s sick.”

“Kevin’s sick?” Seth repeated, now in shock. “What happened, sweetheart? How is Kevin sick?”

At that point, Dean was out of the bathroom to see what was going on, toothbrush lolling out of his mouth as Seth put his phone on speaker to let Dean know what was going on. “Kevin ate a bug an’ now he’s sick,” Joey said, her voice trembling a little.

Next to him, Dean made a face that Seth couldn’t decipher, taking the phone from Seth’s hand with one hand and removing his toothbrush with the other. “Joey?”

“Uncle Dean? Kevin’s sick an’ you and Uncle Seth have to come home -”

“Okay, sweetie, okay. But can you put your daddy on first? We have to talk to him about going home before we can.”

Joey’s voice seemed to brighten up considerably at that. “Okay! Daddy, Uncle Dean is on the phone!” called the little girl, along with the two of them hearing her footsteps running around the house, likely to the back bedroom.

“I don’t…?” Seth began, looking puzzled. “Kevin’s eaten a lot of weird stuff; what could he have done that was bad enough to get him sick?”

“I don’t think he’s actually sick,” Dean replied, looking nonplussed as the two of them heard Roman get on the phone. “Hey man, it’s Dean and Seth.”

“Hey guys, what’s up? You two enjoying yourselves down there?” To Seth’s surprise (and a lack of Dean’s), Roman sounded completely fine, a little tired at most.

Dean stuck the toothbrush back in the side of his mouth before continuing. “A little Joey-bird called Seth just now to tell us that Kevin’s sick and we had to come home immediately. Sound familiar?”

A quiet “ _fuck_ ” was heard before Seth heard the sound of Roman likely slapping his palm against his forehead. “I knew I shouldn’t’ve left my phone out in the open while y’all two were gone. I’ll talk to her, okay? Kevin’s absolutely fine, Seth, if you can hear me.”

“Are you sure?” Seth asked, realization starting to slowly dawn over him that Joey was pulling his leg.

“Positive,” Roman assured him. “You two go enjoy the rest of your honeymoon, okay? I’ll talk to the little troublemaker in there.”

“Okay, dude. See you in two days,” Dean replied, hanging up after Roman wished them goodbye as well. “Well, that solved that,” he continued simply, handing the phone back to Seth and going back to the bathroom, likely to finish brushing his teeth.

“What _was_ that?” Seth couldn’t help but ask, following Dean into the bathroom. “Did she think that Kevin was sick because he was probably sleeping or something?”

Dean spat in the sink. “Nah,” he said, pulling down his lip to check his lower gums. “Joey tried to pull this exact same thing on me when I was out of town for a dance competition with some younger students and wanted me back home. She’s old enough to realize that when someone’s sick, people come visit or stay home with them, so she figured back then that I would come home if I believed Ro was sick.” He began to wash off his toothbrush, apparently satisfied with how his teeth looked. “Dude was fine the entire time.”

“Oh.” Seth sat down on the toilet, looking up at Dean. “Have you been having a good time?”

“Of course I have,” Dean said, giving Seth a look like he was surprised that it wasn’t obvious. “Aren’t you having fun? You looked like you were having the time of your life when the waiter set your steak in front of you earlier.”

“No, no, I have been,” Seth said, nodding. “I was just a little worried that me packing our schedule was turning you off to the trip a little.”

Dean stuck the toothbrush back into its holder. “But would we have gotten to see all that we have if you let me decide the schedule, hm?” It was his turn to go over and plop down in Seth’s lap. “You keeping everything on the straight and narrow means that we get to have a lot more fun.”

“And busy days lead to lazy nights,” Seth continued, smoothing Dean’s hair off of his forehead. “And lazy nights lead to…” He stopped himself, kissing Dean softly on the lips.

“Lazy nights lead to a lot of fun,” Dean finished for him as they pulled away. “Which reminds me - it’s nighttime now, isn’t it?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just so everyone knows, I am always here for fanart... especially sex with nothing but the cowboy hat-fanart.


	10. Something Happens When I Hold Him

As much fun as the two of them had on their honeymoon, Dean was extremely happy to be back at home with (a perfectly fine) Kevin and enough pictures and memories to last a lifetime. He was also extremely happy to be able to spend the last few hours of his honeymoon snuggled up on the couch with his husband, beer in his hand and diet ginger ale in Seth’s, watching TV.

“Told you that when we do what I want that it’s way more chill,” Dean teased, pulling Seth closer against him before taking a swig of his beer. “Just you, me, a little bit of booze and ginger ale.”

“ _Diet_ ginger ale,” Seth corrected him in the same teasing tone that he himself used, making Dean chuckle.

“My bad.” Dean nuzzled his head against Seth’s hair, kissing the side of the other man’s head gently. “You know something?”

“What?” Seth turned his head away from the TV to look Dean in the eye.

“I’m so glad you’re my husband.” Dean was laying on the charm, trying to keep his tone romantic for what he had planned next. Carefully, he took Seth’s ( _diet_ ) ginger ale and placed it on the coffee table in front of them along with his beer, wrapping both arms around Seth’s waist.

“Aw, babe,” Seth said with a smile, putting his head on Dean’s shoulder and giving him big puppy-dog eyes. “I’m so glad you’re mine too.”

Dean nodded, leaning close to Seth’s face. “You being my husband… means I can do _this_.” Suddenly, Dean started tickling Seth around the waist, grinning when the shrieking of surprise turned to laughter and Seth tried to fight him off unsuccessfully, twisting and turning to try and shake Dean off.

“O-oh my god, Dean!” Seth gasped out between laughs, nearly at the point of cackling. “Oh my god, uncle - _shit_ , I said uncle; I give, I give!”

There were many things Dean was, but a full-on troublemaker when it came to Seth wasn’t one of them. He lifted his arms up immediately, completely expecting the return attack that he got from a winded Seth on his ticklish spots under his arms and by his hips, squirming with laughter as he let Seth have his time. Kevin came rushing in from the bedroom yipping to see what all the fuss was about.

“I’m - I’m all good, li’l guy,” Dean said as he reached down to let the tiny dog nuzzle his arm as Seth wrecked havoc on his underarms. “Okay, babe, couch is starting to dig into my back, it’s hurting my back -”

“I’m off,” Seth replied gleefully, staying on top of Dean to kiss his lips. “I got you back good, though.”

“You did,” Dean agreed with a smile, moving his hand from Kevin back to the coffee table to hand Seth back his drink. “I don’t think I’ve ever been tickled so effectively in my entire life.”

“I’m just the best,” Seth said, smirking now at the compliments being lavished upon him.

“That you are, babe,” Dean replied sincerely, tucking Seth back under his arm and kissing the side of his head again lazily. “That you are.”

It was good to be home. 

* * *

Months passed and life went on as usual. Seth was convinced he had a promotion coming his way. In his mind, Dean figured, that meant that he needed to spend more time at work rather than being at home or out with friends.

“You’re not even hitting the gym anymore, babe; that’s not like you,” he told Seth one night when the two of them were finally in bed together around midnight. “You still look great, don’t get me wrong, but you’re basically living at work now and doing nothing else.” He ran a hand through his husband’s hair, seeing that even the blond streak was being neglected if Seth’s roots were anything to go by. “I miss you.”

“As long as I eat just enough to maintain, I’ll keep my body,” Seth replied, apparently not catching the underlying meaning of Dean’s assessment. “And if I work hard enough and prove that I’m dedicated to the job, Hunter might recommend me for junior partner. Can you imagine,” he continued wistfully, looking at the ceiling above the bed, likely picturing it. “Can you imagine me already being a junior _partner_ and being under thirty years old?”

“I feel like it’d be the same old you in a fancier suit,” Dean replied, a little peeved that Seth wasn’t getting the hint. “And I think you can prove your worth to Hunter and them with a normal eight-hour workday.”

Seth shook his head. “Gotta be the first one in and the last to leave, babe, that’s how it works in the corporate world. Once I get my promotion, then I can afford to slack off a little bit more.”

Dean just sighed and nodded like he understood, watching Seth drift off to sleep as Dean continued to stroke his hair. While he still loved Seth more than anything, it hurt to see Seth basically giving up on what made him _him_ in order to please his boss. Sure, the extra money would be nice to have, especially to build up their savings, but it wasn’t worth losing the real Seth - the _real_ Seth - over.

Sooner than he expected, Dean got tired of waking up to an empty bed and hearing Seth already awake and busy in the kitchen, about to head out to work at a mind-boggling 6:30 AM. He got tired of coming home to an empty house, usually eating dinner alone, since he wasn’t going over to Roman’s in case Seth happened to surprise him by getting home by six that day. It began to feel more like Seth had left him for blueprints and the apartment and their dog was all that Dean had left.

 _This has to end,_ Dean told himself one night, the third night that week where he was eating dinner alone. _I’m not going to share my husband with those wrinkly old fucks at work. I don’t care how much it hurts him to hear it._

Dean never really made plans so much as he had ideas. But he figured that Seth would respond to his texts at the very least. After all, he always had in the past. _Hey babe, I want you_ \- Dean corrected himself, backspacing rapidly as he left the studio at the end of his day - _I need you to come home ASAP. I’ll be home when you get there._

 _What for_ Seth replied within two minutes, making Dean smile. At least he was sure about one thing.

 _Really really important, need you home_ he answered in one text, before deciding to follow it up with another. _Pack up for the day - they’ll understand leaving early one day._

Dean heard the door unlock again behind him as he lit the last candle, hiding the lighter behind his back as he turned around. “Hey babe!” Dean greeted Seth (who was looking a little worse for wear, tie slack around his neck), going up to him and hugging him close with the arm not hiding the lighter. “Thank you for coming home.”

“What’s all this about?” Seth asked, tone leaning a little closer into snapping territory than Dean expected and barely hugging back in reply.

 _He’s tired,_ Dean reminded himself. _Get him into bed early tonight; make 6:00 manageable… since he’ll do it again tomorrow._

“Just me wanting to do something special for my wonderful, hardworking husband.” Dean pecked him on the cheek noisily, knowing that that would get a smile out of him if nothing else would. Whether or not it really did work, Dean didn’t know as he turned away to show Seth his handiwork, but he was pretty sure it had.

“I ordered in from that farm-to-table place you like; that’s ready on the table since it got delivered just before you came in. I made sure I ordered the berry crumble too, since I know that’s your favorite.” Dean smiled as he put the lighter away, turning back around. “Kevin’s sleeping on the bed, and I was thinking we could watch that cop movie that you were looking at the other night.” He swung back and forth on his feet, trying to gauge Seth’s reaction. “So… what do you think?”

Seth’s face was stony. “This is what you called me home for?”

Dean felt his heart sink. “Well… yeah. Don’t you like it?” He gestured around the apartment. “I made sure everything was perfect for us tonight.”

“You told me that this was important, Dean. ‘Really _really_ important’, if I remember correctly.”

“This _is_ important,” Dean insisted, crossing his arms over his chest and trying to tamp down the _why don’t you want to spend time with me anymore?_ that was threatening to come out. “We haven’t had much alone time anymore, and I was just wondering if maybe you could get off an hour earlier than usual to spend some time with me.”

“We don’t have kids,” Seth replied in a tone that sounded vaguely belittling to Dean’s ears. “ _All_ of our time is alone time.”

Dean didn’t know what to say, standing there with his arms still over his chest. After a moment, he worked up the courage to open his mouth again. “Just come eat with me, Seth. Just one night.”

Seth shrugged, sighing like his hands were tied. “Sure, whatever.” He sat down at the table where he spotted his food on the plate in front of him, not saying anything about how grateful he was that Dean had gone to all this trouble to make tonight nice. (Not that Dean was fishing for compliments, but it would’ve been nice.)

 _Give him some space,_ the voice inside Dean’s head advised, so Dean moved his plate and chair away from where it was right next to Seth’s to more of an opposite-facing position. “I’m just - I’m really glad to have you home with me,” he said, managing a small tight smile. “It gets lonely when you’re not here.”

“You have Kev,” Seth pointed out around a bite of mixed vegetables. “And you can always go over and see Roman and Joey.”

 _That’s not the same,_ Dean wanted to say, nodding instead. “It’d be better if you were the one with me, though.”

Seth didn’t say anything, instead just continuing to eat. Dean snuck a look around the table to see if Seth was still wearing his wedding ring. Why he was concerned, he didn’t know, but it was thankfully still there, shiny and golden as ever.

“Why aren’t you eating?” Seth asked, looking at Dean funny. “You did all this and you’re not hungry?”

“Not right now,” Dean said quietly, toying with his fork. “Just give me a few minutes."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Awwwww, reader, don't you DARE be sour! The cliffhanger is just a cliffhanger, so something-something POWAAAAH! ( _It's a New Day, yes it is!_ )
> 
> But really, I promise that the next chapter is much better for both our boys. You'll just have to wait and see...


	11. He Keeps My Heart From Getting Broken

Seth was tired, but not sleepy. Tired of coming into work early, leaving work late, skipping lunch and subsisting strictly on however many protein bars he could eat on the way to the office and whatever he got together for dinner since Dean was usually relaxing after dinner _and_ dessert by the time he got home. More than anything, though, he was tired of being away from Dean.

But Hunter had promised him that his promotion and raise were imminent, and Seth’d hoped to expedite the process any way he could. It was his ambition doing him in.

It sure took him long enough to realize it. Fuck, he felt terrible when he got in the door tonight, terrible for leaving work without warning since he knew he’d hear about it from Hunter later, but even more so when Dean laid out everything he’d done for him. Everything that Dean did, Seth knew, was to make spending time with Dean worthwhile for him in Dean’s mind. Favorite food from his favorite restaurant, a new movie, and nothing but love and adoration all night. And he’d just shrugged it off like he shrugged off anything that wasn’t work-related nowadays.

_Fuck._

“Dean.” Seth nudged his husband, who was sleeping next to him calm as ever (though probably feeling more than a little jilted, if Seth knew his Dean). “Dean, baby, wake up.”

“Mmf?” Dean asked in reply, apparently aware that he didn’t answer with anything of substance and speaking again. “Yeah, babe?” He turned his head to look at Seth, rolling his shoulders back to stretch.

Seth sat up, stroking Dean’s hair gently like Dean always did for him. “You know I love you, right?”

“‘Course I do,” Dean replied automatically, not sounding entirely convinced. Seth winced. He’d really fucked up this time.

“No, babe.” Seth pulled Dean into his lap, Dean helping most of the way there as the two of them laid still under the covers. “I mean _really_ love you. What you did for me - for us - tonight was so sweet.” Dean looked up at Seth, looking like he was about two seconds from dozing back off again. Seth just continued to stroke Dean’s hair, watching him. “You’re so good to me… _way_ better than I deserve since I know I’ve been leaving you high and dry for a while now.”

“It’s okay,” Dean assured him wearily, prompting Seth to correct him.

“No, it’s not okay. How I treated you was _not_ okay, Dean.” Seth scooted back down to a lying-down position slowly, keeping Dean’s head securely on his chest when he was all the way down. “I’ve been neglecting you, and I’m acting no better than how -”

“If you say that you’re no better than my mother, I’m going to go sleep on the couch,” Dean interrupted, voice suddenly firm as he looked at Seth head-on. “You’re nothing like her.”

_Well, that sure woke him up,_ Seth thought to himself, nodding in understanding with what Dean was saying. “Okay, babe. Okay.”

“We can talk about this in the morning, okay? It’s my day off, and I’ll get up before you go to work so we can talk it out before you have to go.

Seth couldn’t believe the words that came out of his mouth next, but that was the effect Dean had on him. “I’m taking the day off tomorrow. We can sleep in.” Dean was speechless, apparently just as surprised as Seth was at that decision. Seth took that as a okay to keep going. “I want to spend time with you, Dean. You’re my husband, I love you more than anything, and I genuinely want to spend time with you. If that means -” he swallowed, forcing himself to continue on - “if that means adjusting my work schedule to fit yours, then so be it.”

“We’ll talk about this in the morning,” Dean repeated, apparently sensing that Seth about about two seconds from hysterically promising Dean the world over at one in the morning. “Go to sleep. Want me to hold you?”

Seth took a deep breath. “Actually, can I hold you? Please?”

Dean nodded and turned over. Seth wrapped his arms around Dean tightly, giving the other man a little slack to move around but otherwise having him close. “I love you, I love you so much,” Seth promised him.

He remembered something that his mother had told him when he’d gotten dumped in high school. “You’re the type of person who does everything at two hundred percent, sweetie,” she’d consoled him, rubbing his back at the dining room table while he sniffled away the last of his tears. “You work hard, play hard, and you love pretty hard too.”

_I’m going to love you as hard as I can,_ Dean, Seth thought to himself, pressing a kiss to the back of the man’s head. _I love you so much._

* * *

The next morning, Seth was surprised to wake up naturally after eight. 8:12, to be exact, but it still counted. He’d figured that by now, his circadian rhythm would have changed it so he was up at the crack of dawn every day. Dean was awake too, Seth noticed when he turned and saw two baby blue eyes looking at him lazily.

“Morning,” Dean said, leaning forward to kiss Seth, who accepted and reciprocated happily. After all, he figured that Dean wouldn’t kiss him if he was truly mad at him (though he didn’t know, as Dean had said before that Seth had never seen him _truly_ mad).

“Good morning to you too,” Seth greeted in reply after they were separated again. “You want me to make pancakes? I can make pancakes -”

“Seth.” Dean said, putting a hand on Seth’s hip under the covers. “Stay still. Deep breaths, okay? Deep breaths.”

Seth took a deep breath, nodding as Dean mimicked taking one with him to calm himself down. Unsurprisingly, he felt much better after that. Though he figured that Dean was used to having to calm himself down, either due to whatever was going on in his head or getting out of the headspace of a really intense dance routine. Whatever caused it for him specifically, nerves or something similar, deep breaths seemed to work just fine.

“Okay,” Dean continued, rubbing circles with his thumb into Seth’s hip gently. “I want to get what I have to say out first, and then you can say your piece, okay? You said a lot last night, and I know you have more to say if I know my Sethie.” Seth blushed furiously at that, having not heard that pet name in a while ever since Seth’s mom introduced it to Dean when the two of them first met the year before. Even though it was a little embarrassing, it was a nice reminder of the fact that he was home.

“You know me so well,” Seth replied fondly, scooting closer to Dean to feel his warmth against his skin.

Dean got the hint and pulled Seth close, kissing Seth’s forehead before speaking again. “I think I made it clear yesterday how I feel about you being at work all the time, so I won’t bring that up again. I’m just… I feel like I’m playing second fiddle to your boss, and I don’t like that. And at first I thought it was something about me - hey, I’m almost done,” Dean told him, putting up a hand to stop Seth before he started out on the stream of _it’s not you, it’s me; you’re perfect and I do need to take a break_. “Wait your turn, mister.” Dean smirked.

“I know you love me and I love you too, but we can’t have all this -” Dean waved a hand slightly above the covers - “happen to us so soon or preferably ever. I’ll fight every day of my life for you, Seth, but I won’t do it if you’re not on my side.”

“I’m _always_ going to be on your side,” Seth jumped in, stopping Dean from jokingly scolding him for not waiting anymore. “Like I said last night, I’m going to set my hours straight to how they were before all this happened.” He pulled Dean close until their chests were pressed together. “Eight-hour workdays, and I promise I’ll eat lunch -”

“You weren’t eating _lunch_?” Apparently that was the first time Dean had heard about that little bit of Seth’s Eleven-Hour Workday Schedule of Death.

“ _Anyway_ ,” Seth continued, kissing Dean’s cheek noisily in an effort to get him to calm down, “I’ll be home to either make or help with dinner every night, and I’ll make sure you and I get our quality time in at least twice a week.”

“Oh, _that’s_ what we’re calling it now.” Dean had grinned when Seth kissed him, his smile only growing wider as he teased him. “Thought it was ‘we time’ before.”

“It’s whatever you want to call it,” Seth replied, smiling in relief that Dean was getting relaxed as well. “I’m just so glad that you’re not mad at me.”

“I can tell the difference between ‘overworked’ and ‘being an asshole’, babe, and you were definitely in the first camp.” Dean paused for a second, cocking his head as he thought. “Well, _mostly_ in the first camp, anyway.”

Seth pouted. “I’m sorry, baby, you know that. How can I make it up to you?”

Dean shook his head. “Don’t worry about it, okay? The fact that you get where I’m coming from, that’s the most important thing, y’know? You and I bein’ on the same wavelength is way more important than trying to buy me out with pancakes and cheese omelets.”

Seth smirked. “So this is your extremely unsubtle way of saying that you want me to get up and make you pancakes and an omelet, huh.”

Dean threw his hands up in mock shock. “Of course not! I would hate it even more if you made some for yourself and we had breakfast in bed on top of that!”

_I’m married to the only man in the world who can smash reverse psychology and sarcasm together and make it sound like neither,_ Seth thought to himself, getting out of bed and heading to the dresser to pull a shirt on. “How about we meet in the middle and we eat breakfast on the couch but drag the comforter out so we can still be under the covers, yeah?” he asked, looking back at Dean who was still in bed, covers now pulled up to his chin.

“Oh, no, I would _hate_ to do that.” Dean replied, apparently wanting to keep playing his game.

Seth shrugged. “Fine, then. I’ll make myself a protein shake and watch TV by myself if you’d hate it so much.”

“Babe.” Dean sat up, wrapping the covers around him like a tiny human mountain with his head at the peak. “Please make me breakfast and we’ll watch TV?”

Seth smiled and walked over to Dean’s side of the bed, tilting his chin up and kissing him softly. “Anything you want, babe. Anything you want.”

* * *

The two of them sat on the couch, stomachs full of eggs and pancakes and coffee. Seth was pretty sure that he’d never been so full (outside of a holiday) in his life. “I’m gonna name my food baby Dean Junior,” Dean said next to him, rubbing his stomach like he really was pregnant.

“And what should I name mine? ‘Heart attack on a plate’?” Seth put his head on Dean’s shoulder, looking up at him with big eyes as he pulled the covers up more from the floor.

Dean looked at him with a face that just reeked of impending mother hen-ness. “Maybe if you weren’t skipping lunches, I would agree,” he countered. “But I think you’ll be fine.” Dean curled a hand around Seth’s shoulders, stroking the side of his head. “The universe wouldn’t give you a heart attack. I’d be too sad.”

Seth made a small noise of agreement and put his legs in Dean’s lap. “I’d be the saddest guy ever if something happened to you too, babe.”

Dean turned his head to kiss the top of Seth’s, stroking his hair some more. “Y’know, your blond patch is growing out. You gonna dye it back?”

“I’unno.” Seth did a noncommittal shrug. It was a major part of what made him _him_ , but there was no way that it was helping him in anyway with how he looked at work.

He paused for a second. Why did he still care so much about what people at work thought of him? He wasn’t going to lose his job over a dye job, and he really did love how nice his hair looked with two colors, especially when it was braided or just pulled back. And Dean and Joey - Joey especially - liked braiding Seth’s hair for fun. Hell, Dean sometimes even did it when he was stressed out and needed to calm down. He’d braid it tight, almost enough to tug the scalp, and when he got to the tips and couldn’t go any further, he’d comb his hand through it to break the braid and start again.

Seth reconsidered. “I think I’ll bleach it again this weekend. How’s that sound?”

Dean’s face lit up. “Sounds great to me. I’ll be a bigger help this time, I promise.”

Seth thought back to the last time he redid his hair, the fumes getting to Dean and making the man nearly gag. He couldn’t help but chuckle as he remembered the look on Dean’s face, a mix of disgust and panic, as he ran out of the bathroom as fast as his legs would take him. “If you can stomach it this time, babe. No pressure."

“I can do anything for you,” Dean assured him, speaking as he buried his nose in Seth’s hair, making Seth ticklish. “I can do anything you want me to do, baby, so long as you’re mine.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Told you it gets better.
> 
> Next chapter gets all good and Christmas-y!


	12. Jingle My Bells

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my Christmas present to y'all while I focus on OVU. Happy holidays!

“It’s our very first Christmas as husbands and I am so _excited_ , future viewers!”

“Dean, put the camera _down_.” Seth batted at the early Christmas (i.e. Black Friday) present he had picked up for Dean for their first married Christmas. They still counted the Christmas that they’d spent together as mere boyfriends to be their very first, but there was a certain nuance to the fact that they were married now. Dean knew that Seth realized it, but if he hadn’t, he knew by the way Dean was absolutely giddy over this Christmas that he would’ve found out somehow.

“I’m just recording this for posterity, babe,” Dean continued, camera held about a foot from his face as he recorded Seth making them eggnog pancakes on the morning of Christmas Eve. “Our very first married Christmas, started off right with my gorgeous husband making us some eggnog pancakes.” He flipped the camera and viewing window around, making sure that he wasn’t breathing down the lens before speaking. “Pancakes are a staple in this house. Pancakes and steak. Steak an’ ‘cakes.”

“Don’t let Summer hear you calling anyone but her Tyler ‘gorgeous’,” Seth teased, seemingly more at ease now that the camera was pointed away from where it had been on his exposed back. (Seth was prone to going straight from the bed to the kitchen for food without regard for his state of dress. Dean was particularly smitten with that habit of his.) “You know how she gets about him.”

“Sorry, Breezy boy,” Dean said with a shrug, “but my man is pretty damn gorgeous in his own right.”

He turned the camera back to Seth. “So this is the guy whose bells I get to jingle on the regular -”

“Do you plan on showing this to anyone else?” Seth cut in, plating what Dean knows will be the best damn seasonally-flavored food he’ll have ever had, pumpkin spice scones be damned. “Because I don’t know if that kind of language is appropriate for other ears… little ears.”

“I’m not showing Joey this video, she’ll be on it since we’re - _oh_ ,” Dean says, pausing the video and putting down the camera to join Seth at the stove. “You suggesting what I think you’re suggesting?”

“In the future, yeah,” Seth told him, wiggling his shoulders happily as Dean wrapped his arms around Seth’s waist, head over his shoulder looking at the new circles of batter gracing the top of the griddle. “I don’t have an ultrasound or anything for you, but I do want a bigger family in the future.” Seth turned his head to look at Dean. “I thought that we’d talked about this already. We hadn’t talked about this already?”

“Musta slipped my mind,” Dean admitted, kissing Seth on the cheek before letting go of him and heading to sit down at the table with the first batch of heaven on a plate. “This stack for me?”

“Yep,” Seth replied, Dean hearing sizzling at Seth flipped over his pancakes. “So what’s the game plan for today?”

“Game plan starts when we get through breakfast, which, by the way, is heavenly. Five stars out of two thumbs up.” Dean grinned at Seth’s confused yet pleased look at his nonsense. On occasion, there was a method to his madness. “No, but we’re getting brunch with the twins and their husbands -”

“One husband, one boyfriend,” Seth corrected him as he sat down with his own stack of pancakes, turning off the stove before getting set up at the table. “Though if John doesn’t marry Nikki soon, I’m about to marry the two of them myself.”

“And what a hot minister you’d make. But we have brunch with those four at Nikki’s house, then we go and meet Ro and Joey around two-ish, and we head over to Roman’s parents’ house for dinner and general family bonding stuff.” Dean stabbed a three-piece stack of pancakes on his fork. “I’m looking forward to ending my day how I began it today.”

“Blowjob under fake mistletoe?” Seth asked cheekily.

“As much as I’d dig that, I don’t think that’s appropriate for general audiences,” Dean countered in the same cheeky tone. “I was thinking more along the lines of some heavily boozed eggnog, ugly sweater optional.”

“Pshh,” Seth said, waving a forkful of breakfast at him. “I already laid our outfits out on the bed before I left the room. Today, ugly sweaters are _not_ optional.”

* * *

It was a good thing that the Bella twins shared Seth’s corniness to some extent, otherwise Dean would have felt way more foolish with his Cincinnati Reds ugly sweater. Nikki had on a red sweater dress lined with white reindeer, while Brie wore the same dress in green, though she added Christmas light earrings for a special touch. John just wore his usual polo and khaki shorts combo (“I’ll wear _real_ pants when I have to leave the house tonight,” he explained to Dean as he took another swig of his drink) while Daniel just hung around in some “shop local” shirt and a pair of jeans.

“I think we overdid it,” Dean whispered to Seth as Seth reached for another scoop of green bean casserole. “And I’m, like, ninety percent sure that that’s not green bean casserole.”

“It’s _paleo_ ,” Seth whispered back, getting a little on his fork. “And we look great.”

Dean just clucked his tongue and wrapped an arm around the back of Seth’s chair as Nikki came around and refilled Dean’s flute of mimosa before stopping at Brie’s chair, looking confused.

“Brie, you never got any?” Nikki asked, reaching for the flute to pour her some. “I could’ve sworn that I had…”

Brie moved the glass out of Nikki’s reach gently, keeping her hand on the bottom. “I’d rather not,” she said apologetically, Dean noticing a look shared between her and her husband, who was looking delightfully buzzed on the mimosas she’d been switching off to him.

Maybe it was Dean’s own buzz, but he heard himself say “You can’t drink? What, are you pregnant?” Now it was Seth’s turn to shoot his husband a look, his jaw actually going slack as he turned to look at Dean in surprise.

“Dean!” Nikki said in shock, saying out loud what Seth probably wanted to with the same shrillness.

“No, uh, actually…” Brie said hesitantly, taking Daniel’s hand where it was resting on top of the table next to his napkin. “I was going to tell you and John when we told Mom after we got into Scottsdale tonight, but -”

“Oh my _god_ , you’re PREGNANT!” Nikki shrieked, putting the pitcher down to hug her sister tight around the shoulders. “How far along are you?”

“Only three months, so it’s not too far along but I wanted it to be a Christmas present, you being an auntie and Mom being a grandma.” Brie accepted her sister’s hug, putting a hand over the arms wrapped around her.

“If I know her, I bet she’s not gonna like that reminder of her age,” Seth piped up, grinning. “Congratulations, guys. That’s awesome.”

Dean just nodded and smiled, sipping his drink and looking at John squirm out of the corner of his eye. God, it was great to watch John squirm as Nikki’s friends and family hit more and more milestones in their lives. Nikki was a better sport than Dean thought that she should be, but that might just be one of her many redeeming qualities for dating a putz like John Cena.

Seth reached up and tapped the back of Dean’s hand where it was still curled around the chair. “You’re staring,” Seth whispered, leaning over to kiss Dean’s cheek. “Look at me, I’ll be an honorary uncle again.”

“Yeah,” Dean said absentmindedly as he turned back to look at Nikki still gushing over her sister and brother-in-law from across the table. _That’ll be us one day,_ Dean thought, moving his arm to wrap around Seth’s actual shoulders instead. _That’ll be us._

* * *

The decision to drive over to Roman’s parents’ house altogether in Roman’s car was not an entirely good idea, as Dean found out from being squished between overnight bags, presents from Roman (and Joey, by default) and the car door. “Explain to me again why I couldn’t take the front?” he asked, tucking a foot underneath him to see Seth’s head above the headrest. “I always ride shotgun.”

“Joey, don’t you _love_ spending time with your Uncle Dean?” Seth replied, turning his head to give Dean the slyest smile he’d ever seen.

“Uncle Dean, can I get a piggyback ride when we get to Grandma and Papa’s house?” Dean heard Joey ask over the mountain of things between them. “I’ll be real good, I promise!”

“We’ll see, Joey-bear,” Dean said, glaring at the back of Seth’s chuckling form in the front seat. “Maybe we’ll have Uncle Seth carry you around. Since he got his hair done again, you can use it for handles.” He watched Seth wince as Roman chuckled on the driver’s side. “Nah, I’ll carry you, Jo.”

“Did you two put your overnight bags in the trunk with the blankets, ‘cause I didn’t see them in the backseat,” Roman said, turning onto the highway to start the main part of the drive to his parents’ house.

“Uh…” Seth started, turning his head again to look back at Dean. “You threw those in the back, right?”

“I thought you did,” Dean replied honestly, looking both embarrassed and confused. “You mean to tell me you didn’t?”

“You two didn’t bring clothes?” Roman asked, wrinkling his nose in disgust. “Not even a change of underwear?”

“We’ll just borrow yours?” Dean tried. “I mean, I know you have some stuff still in your dresser that your mom leaves there just in case, and well, this is pretty ‘just in case’ if I do say so myself.”

“And we’ll switch sweaters tomorrow so we’re not _entirely_ outfit repeaters,” Seth chimed in, looking at Roman. “That’ll work, right? Dean and I share clothes all the time; this won’t be too different.”

Apparently Roman was just as susceptible to Seth’s pleading face as Dean was, because he sighed and nodded. “I don’t want the underwear back, though. You can burn it when you’re done with it. I don’t want those drawers back in my drawer.”

Joey giggled. “Undie-drawers.”

Dean looked at Joey and smiled before looking back at Roman. “Don’t worry, your undie-drawers are safe with us.”

* * *

Dean loved the holiday season. All the food and gifts and general sense of cheer was only beat out by the fact that this was the only time of the year that he could guarantee on seeing all of his adopted family in one place, Roman’s parents’ house. Roman’s dad being some big hotshot and Roman’s mother insisting on a big family meant the house was big enough for everyone, and Dean never felt more welcome in any other house other than his own when he was at the Reignses.

“Don’t you two look festive,” Roman’s mother said politely when she saw them, Dean rolling his eyes with a grin when he saw how damn happy Seth looked after getting complimented on his purposeful fashion misstep.

“Dean’s sweater is for the Reds and mine has little dumbbells and jump ropes for CrossFit. It’s a workout thing,” he explained, pointing at the different parts of the pattern.

Roman’s mother smiled. “Well, you two look great. Dinner’s on the table; help yourselves, and Dean, I made sure that there’s about half a pecan pie for you in the fridge whenever you’re ready for it.” She winked as Dean’s face lit up brighter than the Christmas tree in the living room.

“Have I ever told you that you’re the best, Mrs. R?”

“You could stand to mention it more,” she replied with a grin that let Dean know exactly where Joey got her smile from. “You two go in and eat.”

Dean wrapped his arm around Seth’s, leading the two of them into the dining room where the table was laden with food, relatives darting in and out for seconds and thirds. A couple of younger kids, children of cousins, saw Dean and smiled, wrapping their arms around him quickly for a greeting hug. Dean introduced Seth to as many of them as would stay still long enough, most of them just nodding and waving hello shyly. Even though it was a small gesture, Dean knew that it made feel Seth feel more at home.

He piled his plate with turkey and ham, saving some room on the side for mashed potatoes and pepper gravy, because Roman came from a good Southern home that understood what _real_ gravy was. Seth in comparison seemed to be one of maybe five people who actually went for the salad greens, sticking his tongue out at Dean when Dean tried to mask the words “rabbit food” under coughs.

“Shuddup,” Seth said, grinning as he put oil on the greens. “Gotta maintain that hot body for a certain someone.”

“And who might that be, hm?” Dean asked, going around the table to get silverware for him and Seth, passing his husband a set.

“Myself.” Seth winked and headed to the living room to join the rest of the family, Dean hurrying after, already planning to get Seth back for that.


	13. False Start

If Seth wasn’t responsible for making sure that prescriptions made it to and from the pharmacy and hadn’t seen Dean taking his medication with his own two eyes, he would never have believed it that he was medicated daily. Dean had it down to a science: he’d get up, take his tin container with his different pill bottles out from where he had it under the sink, take them in the bathroom, and then replace everything where it had been before without so much as a mention later on.

Seth didn’t like to press - and worked under the idea that if Dean didn’t say anything about it, then it wasn’t _too_ important to fuss over - and since it was under control, he figured it was fine. People took medication for a variety of things, Dean’s just happened to be mental.

“It doesn’t prevent him from being a good husband, uncle, or friend,” Seth had clarified as he spoke to Nikki one day when they were getting lunch. He had a feeling he was preaching to the choir, but it felt good to get his feelings out somewhere. “It just keeps him together in ways I don’t think I’ll ever be able to understand fully, but it’s still Dean. And Dean is good.”

“No one’s disputing that,” Nikki assured him, taking a sip of her drink before continuing. “I’m just saying that the government or whoever is in charge of adoption might be a little… averse to letting someone with known mental issues adopt a child, regardless of medication. He still has a history to explain for if anyone asks.”

That was what Seth was most worried for, even if he wouldn’t admit it to anyone. Ever since Dean had trusted him with his backstory so many months ago, Seth didn’t want to make him relive it unless it was necessary. He supposed that it would be a necessary evil at some point, but still.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Seth replied. “Right now, we’re just making sure that we have the money to do it right.”

There was a savings account on their joint account that was called “Baby X” (“It sounds cool,” Dean explained when Seth asked why he picked that name) that the two of them managed to sock between $250 and $500 into every month. Right now they were at a little over three thousand, and if neither of them went too crazy with the anniversary or birthday presents, the account would probably double in size by the summer.

Outside of cost, though, there were a lot of questions to be answered. When did they want to adopt, from where, how, and so on. All the logistics of things like that Seth took care of, since he was better at keeping track of paperwork than Dean said he’d ever be. “You’re just more organized, babe, see?”

“You’re just saying that so I’ll keep giving you kisses even though I have to do all this extra labor,” Seth teased, putting another paper he’d printed off at work in the adoption file folder. “I see right through this ruse.”

“You love me,” Dean countered, crawling and taking the blankets with him where he was at the top of the bed down to the foot where Seth was standing. “And I know you’re going to love this little guy or girl just as much as you love me, so it makes it all worth it in the end, I think.” He sat up on his heels and pulled Seth in for a hug around the waist, Seth laughing at how silly the two of them must look. “And I love you.”

“I know, baby,” Seth replied, bending down to kiss Dean on the top of his head. “You wanna see what I was able to pull off the state adoption website today?”

“Mhm.” Seth let Dean pull him down by the waist to sit on the bed, throwing the blanket over both of their shoulders. “Let ‘er rip.”

Seth chuckled, pulling the blanket closer around him as he reopened the folder and pulled out a few sheets of paper. “This right here is the entire adoption process from start to finish. We attend an orientation meeting, apply, get a caseworker -”

“So basically like we’re the ones being adopted. Two pieces of a puzzle.” Dean wrapped his arms around Seth’s waist, sneaking his head into the crook of his neck. “That’s cute.”

“It is.” Seth planted a kiss on Dean’s head, turning the page over to show him more information. If everything went according to plan and the two of them ended up adopting a child, Seth knew that there would be a hell of a lot of love in their house to go around, probably even more so when three made company. “The biggest hurdle is the home study. After that, getting matched is easy, so it says.”

Dean nodded, pointing at one bullet point under the home study. “It says we’ll have to undergo background checks,” Dean read aloud, looking at Seth nervously. “You don’t think -”

“No, I don’t.” Seth kept his voice and expression firm but understanding, rubbing Dean’s arm. “Your past is not going to define our future, Dean. If something happens, we will deal with it, but we are starting our family together in due time.”

“You promise?”

Seth looked into his husband’s face, that face that he felt so lucky to wake up to every morning, see every night before he went to bed, and kiss so, so many times. Dean would never understand how carefully that Seth was taking this process, slowly, methodically, making sure that everything was covered so maybe, just _maybe_ , if Dean’s disorder mattered it didn’t matter as much as it possibly could.

“I promise.” Seth kissed Dean slowly, taking the time to reassure him with his touch, breaking away only to close the file folder for the night. “I absolutely, positively promise.” 

* * *

Things progressed faster than Seth had expected once they got the ball rolling. Living in a one-bedroom apartment wasn’t going to do when two bedrooms were needed, so they moved out to a new place on Roman’s side of town near the studio that had just the right amount of space Seth and Dean figured they needed.

“I’m starting to feel a little wayward,” Dean joked to Seth as he brought in a box of plates to the kitchen to start putting away. “I move around way too often.”

Seth just smiled and opened up the box with an exacto knife, stacking the plates to put in the cabinet next to the stove. “I think this’ll be the last time we move for a while. A _long_ while.”

He watched as Dean just nodded and leaned back on the kitchen counter, facing him. “You think this’ll all be enough for a kid? At the orientation meeting, they said that kids of all ages - even infants, though I dunno how legit _that_ is - need as much open space as they can get. You think this’ll do?”

“Definitely, babe,” Seth replied, turning around to cast a look over their currently-empty living room. “There’ll be a lot of space even after we get the furniture in, and the coffee table has rounded corners, so it’s safe to move it in with the rest of the things.”

“I just want to make sure,” Dean explained, looking over at the notebook on the counter next to him, the same one Seth had brought to the meeting to take down information in. “That lady said to call once we got settled in so we could start the application process, I think.”

“So we’ll call tomorrow,” Seth said, putting the last plate away and walking over to Dean, rubbing the other man’s shoulders. “We’re not going to have the internet set up until tomorrow morning anyway. Let’s wait until everything gets done before we move on.”

“Yeah.” Dean looked back up at Seth, smiling. “Want me to go out and get some more stuff out of the truck?”

Seth smiled back. “That would be nice.” He waited until Dean was almost out the door before adding “and don’t worry so much!”

 _That’s my job,_ he thought to himself, chuckling as he went to the bedroom to see how well the air mattress they were using for the night was inflating. Everything was going according to plan, so, really, neither of them had anything to worry about at the moment. The next training session to meet the requirements of the application process wasn’t even until the following month, so they had time to get their physical forms in order.

Over the following weeks, they did just that. Apparently the lady whom he and Dean had met at the first orientation meeting found them charming, and once they had proved that yes, they had the space, time, and means to provide for a child, it was only a matter of time before they had passed through the training session with flying colors.

“You’re going to _love_ your caseworker, Seth,” the lady explained over the phone as he opened up the man’s profile on the state website to put a face to this new name. “He’s one of the best in the state, especially when it comes to working with first-time families like you two.”

“I just hope he’ll love us,” Seth replied with a chuckle, feeling a little underwhelmed by the man’s description of his past work regardless of what he was currently being told. “My husband is nervous that his medical history might stand in the way of passing the background check.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t worry too much about that,” she told him. “As long as it’s not a debilitating injury or illness, you’ll be fine.”

Seth told Dean just that the night before the caseworker was scheduled to come over and view the new apartment for himself. “See? You have nothing to worry about. The criminal record check went through, I’m _sure_ Roman wrote you an amazing recommendation, and now all we have to do is be ourselves.”

Dean snorted from where he was lying across the entire couch in front of the TV. “That’s exactly what I’m worried about.”

“Hey, don’t be like that.” Seth frowned, peeking out from the bedroom at him. “Everything’s going to be fine, alright? We’re almost there.” 

* * *

“This is going to be a major setback.”

The caseworker looked down at Dean’s medical packet in front of him, glasses nearly falling off the bridge of his nose. “Normally, potential adoptive parents don’t even make it past the training stage with a history of mental illness on their record.”

Seth felt Dean freeze up next to him where all three of them were seated at the dining room table. This was exactly what Dean (openly, and Seth silently) had been worried about. Of course it had to happen in the step just before they got matched with a child.

“If you’ll see here, sir,” Seth jumped in, leaning forward to point at a doctor’s note on the top sheet, “the psychiatrist that last checked my husband out two months ago stated that he was perfectly fine. He hasn’t had an episode in six years.”

“Yes,” the man agreed, eyes following Seth’s finger to the line, “but post-traumatic stress disorder can manifest at any time from a variety of triggers, as I’m sure you both know.” Seth saw Dean swallow and nod out of the corner of his eye, guessing his hands were likely fidgeting in nervousness as well. “Six years and medication is admirable, Mr. Ambrose, but the agency prides itself on making sure children are entering the safest environment possible, and this just seems like it might be too risky at the moment.”

That had Seth seeing red. “Are you insinuating that our future son or daughter wouldn’t be safe around Dean?” He couldn’t believe it; he could only make sure he kept a level tone in spite of what he actually wanted to do. “Dean lived with a child for _five years_ prior to moving in with and marrying me, and not once did anything happen to the little girl.”

“I’m not saying he wouldn’t be safe, necessarily. I just believe that there needs to be a little more time.” The man shuffled through his papers, everything else given a green paper clip of approval except for that sole document. “I’m putting your case on hold for a month, and then I can make a more accurate decision. In that time, Mr. Ambrose?”

“Yes?” Seth had no idea how Dean was managing to contain himself with this man when all Seth wanted to do was explode in rage.

“Keep taking care of yourself, and perhaps go see your psychiatrist again for a more thorough examination, just to have it on record.” The man pushed his chair back and stood up, taking the case folder off the table with him. “We’ll be in touch,” he added as he extended a hand for the two of them to shake, both Seth and Dean doing so grudgingly.

Seth walked the man to the door and somehow managed to thank him - though he didn’t really deserve it - for his time, promising to have everything set next time. It was only when he shut and locked the door did he feel something was… off.

Dean had disappeared from the dining room, his chair turned over on the ground in its wake. “Babe?” Seth asked tentatively, taking small steps toward the bedroom. “Dean, baby… it’s going to be okay, okay? It’s going to be alright.”

The _thump_ Seth heard from the bedroom let him know that Dean felt the exact opposite.

“Dean!” Seth rushed in, seeing his husband leaning against the cabinets under the sink, knuckles bloody and shaking like a leaf. “Dean, baby,” he repeated, moving closer and keeping his voice soft. _He’s having an episode,_ Seth realized, his heart rising up into his throat.

He didn’t respond, so Seth moved closer. Maybe it was like when Seth was angry, and the blood thumped in his ears so loud that he couldn’t hear anything or anyone even if he tried. “It’s okay,” he soothed him, kneeling down in front of him and stroking his shoulder. “It’s -”

At his touch, Dean threw an elbow forward, catching Seth in the jaw. He stumbled back in shock, falling back on his ass as Dean stood up, still trembling, and walked past to the dresser with the huge mirror. _With the huge, sharp-if-broken mirror._

“Babe!” Seth scrambled to get to his feet, tailing Dean across the room. “Baby, please, look at me. Please look at me.” For some reason, that seemed to get through Dean’s head, who was now looking up at Seth with red, glassy eyes and a slack jaw. “There we go, baby, there we go. Take deep breaths with me. In… and out.” Seth watched as Dean obliged, following suit. “There we go. In… and out.”

“In,” Dean croaked out, nodding. “And out.”

“There we go.” Seth took a step closer, keeping his hands at his sides. “You’re okay, Dean, I promise.” Dean just kept nodding, resembling an anxious bobblehead. “I’m gonna move the blankets to the couch so you can curl up there while I make some tea.”

“Tea?” He noticed that Dean had stopped shaking, instead just looking between Seth and the floor.

“To help you come back down. Here, let me see your hands, please.” Seth took another step forward, waiting patiently until Dean felt comfortable enough to lift his hands for him to take his hands in his. Now that he got a better look, Dean’s knuckles were more red than cut open, which was relieving considering he knew he’d need to doctor them up for him later. “Alright, we can deal with that later,” he told him, looking up into his eyes. “I love you, Dean. You’re safe now, alright?”

Dean nodded again, this time stopping after one time. “Yeah. I’m just gonna -” he waved one of his and Seth’s joined hands in the direction of the living room - “yeah.”

“Alright, baby.” Seth let go of his hands, watching Dean walk past him into the living room to sit down.

Despite all how much progress they’d made so far, Seth couldn’t help but think it might be a good idea to put adoption on the back burner.


	14. Double Celebration

“I’m actually more embarrassed than anything, to be honest,” Dean said, his hands clasped together in his lap, fingers interlaced. “Seth, uh… Seth told me not to be ashamed or feel guilty for what I did, so I guess this is kinda my final option.”

His therapist, a nice lady named Ashley that Dean figured was not getting paid enough to put up with him quarterly, tapped her pen on the desk lightly, smiling in understanding. “He’s right; you shouldn’t feel ashamed or guilty for something that, at that moment, was out of your control. Why exactly do you feel embarrassed still, though? Because Seth hadn’t ever seen that side of you?”

“Yeah.” That was part of it, at least, but he still had to figure the rest of it out in his head before he could put it into words. “That and I had to have that happen right after he defended me to our caseworker. He was real serious about it too,” Dean finally looked up from where he was watching himself flex his knuckles, half-smiling back. He couldn’t think of a time where he’d been talking to someone about Seth and hadn't wound up smiling. “Guess that only shows how much he wants this kid, huh?”

“I think it actually shows how much he wants to protect and loves _you_ , Dean,” Ashley corrected him gently. “Have you two discussed going forward with the adoption process at all after this happened?”

Dean nodded. “Yeah,” he said aloud. “I told him that until I figured out exactly what caused the episode and got that under control, that I thought we should put meeting up with our caseworker on hold. Since the episode’s not changing my medication any, it’s _technically_ not on record, but I want to give us some time to sort sh - things out before we keep going.” He laughed after he caught himself. “Sorry ‘bout that.”

“I’ve heard worse,” she replied casually, waving the hand holding her pen. It was only then that Dean realized that she hadn’t actually written anything down so far during the session. “And I think that’s very good that you’re putting your mental health first. You know, you’ve made great progress since I first started seeing you.”

He thought back to his first meeting with Ashley years ago, before Joelle had even been born, right after Roman came back from his honeymoon. Having an episode in the hotel bathroom at the reception was an unexpected second gift he’d given Roman for getting married.

“Aw, man, you’re gonna get blood on the sinks,” he remembered Roman groaning as he slowly pulled himself out of the void that was then his brain. “Dean, man, sit up, alright? You want me to get Jimmy and Jey in here to help you up?”

“Nah… nah,  you go on an’ I’ll get myself up,” he had mumbled, getting to his feet shakily.

 _I guess it’s good now that I’ve got Seth to get me back on my feet,_ Dean thought to himself. Still, he couldn’t help but feel that he had taken away something from them on accident that they might not ever be able to replace.

* * *

“Happy anniversary,” Dean mumbled three days later on Saturday morning, turning over in bed to throw an arm over Seth’s barely-awake frame. “Checkpoint reached.”

“Mm, what?” Seth answered sleepily, pulling Dean closer to him with the arm not currently pinned to the bed. “What about a point now?” Dean smiled and scooted along with the pull, kissing Seth’s chest when skin connected with skin. “I’m confused.”

“Like a checkpoint in a videogame,” he explained, grunting as he moved into a more comfortable position. One year married, milestone event, like that.”

“Oh.” Seth sounded like he was about to drift back off to sleep. “Checkpoint.”

Dean chuckled and leaned up to kiss Seth on the face this time. “Want me to get up and make breakfast? I know we’re going out for dinner, but I can still make us something here.” He looked up to see Kevin using the little stairs they set up on Seth’s side of the bed for him to get up there on his own. “I think the little guy heard me mention food.”

Seth rubbed his eyes, opening them slowly and moving his head to kiss Dean fully. “Probably. Happy anniversary, hon.” Dean watched as Kevin crawled up between their bodies, making a little nest to plop down in next to Dean’s chest. Having Kevin, he supposed, was in some ways like having a kid already.

“You’re so sleepy for someone who went to bed before midnight last night,” Dean murmured, speaking to Seth but stroking Kevin’s side. “How’d I end up with Rip Van Winkle for a husband, huh?” He felt Seth’s chest rumble with soft laughter, making him smile. Moments like this, where they felt just so connected at the most basic level of things, were what kept Dean going when he felt like he was at his lowest.

“I’m up, I’m up,” Seth said, stroking Kevin as well before sitting up in bed. “You know what would be really nice right now?”

“Hm?” Dean sat up as well, scooping Kevin up into his arms like he was cradling a baby. “If I know you, it’s something with chocolate.” Seth nodded, leaning on Dean’s side. “Is it… no, it’s the morning and hot chocolate alone makes you sleepy, so it’s gotta be a mocha.”

“Mocha…” Seth prompted, waving a hand for Dean to dig deeper.

“Mocha frappuccino?”

Seth kissed him on the cheek. “Bingo. As much as I love your cooking, I think we can afford to splurge today for the both of us.”

The two of them got dressed slowly (Seth moreso than Dean thanks to Dean “helping” by getting Seth his clothes from the drawers at a snail’s pace), Dean driving the two of them to the Starbucks off of the thoroughfare downtown. The leisurely pace was a nice change, considering how they were used to running around even on weekends to make sure everything was taken care of.

“I don’t know how you of all people can stomach drinking those things,” Dean said, watching as Seth happily slurped down what could only be described as a massive coffee milkshake. “You have me eating tofu one minute, and then next, you’re guzzling down liquid sugar like there’s no tomorrow.”

“Says the guy with a smaller version of the same thing I got,” Seth pointed out before taking a sip of his mocha monstrosity. He did have Dean beat there.

“Yeah,” Dean admitted with a smile, “but I’ve always given this little of a crap about nutrition. You’re finally following my footsteps.” He turned his head to give Seth a kiss on the cheek, making his husband smile around his straw. “Took you long enough.”

“Juth ‘cause I love you tho much,” Seth replied, not taking his mouth off the straw. “You’re a bad healthy role model.”

Dean wrapped an arm around Seth’s shoulders, pulling him close. “But you wouldn’t have me any other way, huh?” Seth shook his head with a grin, making Dean smile back. “Good. I wouldn’t want my Sethie any different either.”

* * *

The best part about their anniversary being on a Saturday meant that there was no chance that they were going to be interrupted by work at any point during the day. (Not that Roman would call Dean on his anniversary unless it was an extreme emergency, but still.) It was just them two and Kevin, and at the end of the day, Dean didn’t feel as bad as he had before about the whole adoption debacle.

Still, he had gone and resubmitted his files to the caseworker for validation exactly a month after the hold date without Seth knowing. As far as he knew, they were still in limbo, but it couldn’t hurt to try. Now all he had to do was wait.

Seth looked up from where he was lying across the couch, feet propped up lazily on one arm, hair barely grazing the other. “Babe?”

“Mhm?” Dean came back to the couch with his beer, plopping down right on top of Seth’s stomach, making the other man grunt with the added weight. “What can I do ya for?”

“For starters, you can sit somewhere else,” Seth groaned, pushing at Dean’s side with a hand. “You’re gonna make me hurl.” He waited until Dean got up and moved Seth’s legs to sit to sit all the way up himself. “Okay. I was gonna ask for a foot rub since I left my foam roller in my gym locker, but now that my stomach’s likely caved in on itself…”

“Oh, hush and put your feet up here, you,” Dean scoffed, leaning forward to put his beer on the coffee table. “That’s not the first time I’ve sat on you, and it sure as hell won’t be the last.” He waited until Seth had his feet up before tickling the soles, making Seth squirm and laugh for a moment before actually getting started.

“You think we can arrange to have you sat on top of me tonight?” Seth asked, preening slightly as Dean went to work on Seth’s arches, where he knew Seth was particularly sensitive. “Or vice versa. Or both.”

“Starbucks, foot rubs, _and_ me riding you? What, is it _our_ anniversary or _your_ birthday?” Dean teased, still rubbing. “I don’t see why not. Here,” he said as he reached over Seth’s feet to grab his beer, taking a swig. “Hold this for me so I don’t have to keep leaning forward.”

The two of them sat in relative silence as Dean continued to massage Seth’s feet, taking breaks periodically to drink his beer from his human cupholder. It was around four o’clock when Dean figured that he should probably get the mail. “You hang tight, I’ll be right back.” Seth pulled his feet back from Dean’s lap so he could get up, Dean slipping on a pair of flip-flops and heading down to the mailboxes at the far end of the development.

Since he grew up basically having nothing, Dean found it especially important to count his blessings when he was thinking about them to himself. He’d thought he would be living with Roman for the rest of his natural-born life, but then Seth came along, his friends became Dean’s friends, and now the two of them them lived together under one roof that could truly be called _theirs_ with their spoiled little dog. Dean never had to worry about whether or not he was going to eat that night, or when he was going to be able to go to bed, and it was really the newfound stability that made his life all the more sweeter. That and his breakthrough with Ashley was just the icing on the happy cake.

There was a package in the mail, which was weird, because he could’ve sworn that his pills weren’t supposed to be there until next week. _Whatever,_ Dean thought, _I’ll call the pharmacy after get back tonight and figure everything out._

When he pulled it out to see exactly who the package was from, though, it wasn’t his medication - it was from the adoption center.

“Babe!” He shouted, even though he knew that Seth wouldn’t be able to hear him very well all the way back in the apartment. He ran with the package in hand, stumbling onto the sidewalk precariously as he sprinted back into the apartment, leaving the door ajar behind him.

“What, what’s wrong?” Seth shot up straight as an arrow, just as surprised as Dean was at the commotion. “What’s going on?”

“The adoption agency!” Dean waved the package in the air. “We got - we got a package from them ‘cause I sent in my new file last week for our caseworker -”

“You sent something in?” Seth was on his feet now, plucking the package out of the air from Dean’s grasp and going to tear it open. “I thought he put a one-month hold on our stuff…”

“The hold ended a week ago last Sunday.” Dean was extremely proud of himself. This was good news; he could feel it in his bones. “Open it up, open it up!”

“I’m trying!” Seth finally managed to rip the fold open, the first sheet of paper sliding out reading “Congratulations!” in big green letters across the page.

Seth was stunned, but Dean managed to get even more excited for the both of them. “We’re having a baby! We’re having a fuckin’ baby!” He grabbed Seth, shaking his shoulders. “I knew we were gonna get approved, I knew it!”

Seth started laughing in surprise, cackling nearly hysterically after a minute while Dean shook him around. “We’re gonna be parents,” he managed to get out after a minute. “Holy shit, we’re gonna be parents.”

Dean wrapped his arms around Seth entirely, pulling his husband - his beautiful, perfect husband that he couldn’t have gotten to this point without - against him, holding him tight, chest-to-chest. Dean had done everything right once again, and now, he couldn’t be happier.

“I have to call Ro,” Dean mumbled into Seth’s hair, feeling Seth rub his back slowly to calm them both down. “He’ll be so damn excited for us, babe, and on our _anniversary_ of all days, we get this package.” He turned his head to kiss Seth’s temple. “ _I’m_ so damn excited for us.”

“I am too,” Seth replied, voice shaky because, like Dean, he probably couldn’t believe it was all real. “I’m so happy… but is this all the mail?”

Dean pulled away, remembering what he had done in his excitement. “ _Shit_ \- I mean, shoot. I’ll be right back, okay?” He poked Seth with a finger in the chest. “Don’t you call anyone until I get back with the rest of the mail, alright? I want to tell Roman myself.”

Seth nodded and picked up a very yappy Kevin who must have run in when Dean did, wondering what all the commotion is about. “Of course… _Daddy_ ,” Seth replied with a grin, laughing as Dean pulled him in for one more kiss and got some chin licks from Kevin as well. He’d never been called Daddy before now, but damn if it didn’t feel just right.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the second-to-last chapter of Mountain Pose. Thank you for sticking along on this wild ride! Everything y'all have done (kudos, comments, bookmarks) is greatly appreciated. I am a lucky author.


	15. Ending Reigns

The first week of summer was always the best for Roman in terms of both business and family life. Summer courses at the studio were just beginning, which meant not only an influx of new students but the spring recital was coming up shortly. Watching all the little kids in their bumblebee and butterfly and flower costumes was the cutest part of the entire thing.

“Daddy, I don’t _wanna_ go to the concert tonight,” Joey pleaded for the umpteenth time that afternoon, wrapping her arms around one of his legs. “I wanna sleep over at Uncle Dean’s.”

“Well, Uncle Dean is going to the concert tonight too. You know he has to be there.” He picked her up, resting her on his hip as he went to find his keys. “Mama’s gonna be there too, y’know. You can go sit with her while Uncle Dean and I are working backstage.”

He never thought he’d be able to say it, but he and Galina were finally starting to work things out between themselves. As it turned out, absence (and sorting out their shit in an adult manner) _did_ make the heart grow fonder. They were nowhere near living together again, but at least the animosity had died down before one of them had actually filed for divorce, for Joey’s sake.

“I’ll sit with Mama,” Joey decided, wrapping her arms as much around Roman’s body as she could muster. “But I wanna play with the baby too.”

“Okay, baby girl.” He boosted her up for a second to kiss her head. “I’m sure Daniel will be happy to see his cousin Jojo.”

Roman had never seen Dean happier than with his little baby boy. After their approval, it only took two months for them to be matched up with Daniel, a tiny thing that Dean and Seth adopted almost straight out of the womb. The birth mother was just barely an adult and a heroin addict on top of that. While that might have dissuaded other potential parents (Roman included, if he was being honest), it only seemed to make Dean even more determined to take care of the little guy himself.

He remembered the call he got the day they brought Daniel home from the hospital, Dean’s voice heavy with emotion and wonder. “He’s so small, Ro, even though he’s full-term. And he’s trembling so much… do all babies shiver this much? Joey didn’t shiver this much. Is he cold?”

“He’s going through some withdrawal symptoms still,” Roman heard Seth remind him in the background. “He’s got an appointment next week to see how he’s going, but until then, the doctor suggested we swaddle him and keep the noise down as much as possible.”

“Withdrawal?” Roman was almost afraid to ask. “I thought it was his mother that was addicted.”

“It can happen to the baby too, apparently,” Dean explained, Roman hearing a soft coo over the phone. “Oh, there’s my good boy. There’s my sweetie.” Roman found himself smiling at how gentle his brother sounded. “He’s so… he’s perfect, Ro. He’s absolutely perfect.”

He and Joey got to meet Daniel two days later. He was just as small as Dean had said, bordering on the low end of normal, but just a smaller swaddled bundle of joy. It was obvious that Seth and Dean were already doting parents of the highest degree, only letting Daniel out of their arms when either Roman or Joey wanted to hold him.

“Now, you have so be super careful, Joey, and make sure you support his head, that’s the most important part.” Seth leaned forward and adjusted her arms to suit his directions. “There we go.”

“We’ve got him settled in pretty well; one of us sleeps with him at night so if he wakes up, it’s like he’s being held.” Dean watched his son as he spoke. “Plus we can hear him cry almost immediately.”

“Co-sleeping helps deepen the parent-child bond, or so I’ve been reading,” Seth explained. “Plus it helps with his tremors. We’re like human heating pads for him.”

“Sounds like you two have this whole thing down,” Roman mused, leaning over to stroke the curls on Daniel’s head.

Dean shook his head, smiling. “We’re takin’ it one day at a time. All I know is that I’m gonna make this little guy proud to be my son.”

* * *

When Roman and Joey arrived at the auditorium to finish helping the rest of the studio workers set up for the recital, Dean, Seth, and Daniel were already there, sitting in the front row of the fold-out chairs meant for the audience members. Joey ran over as fast as her feet could carry her, prompting Roman to follow to at least talk for a moment before he went backstage.

“Hello, second-favorite fellow father,” Dean greeted him, waving slightly as he leaned forward to get something out of Daniel’s diaper bag. “Am I needed backstage yet?”

“Wait for the loud crash and then you should go,” Roman joked. “Are we still on for dinner after this? I don’t think Galina’ll be joining us, but I think I can wrangle the twins into coming.” He watched Joey play with Daniel’s hands, thinking about how long ago it’d been since his little girl was that age. Where had the time gone?

Joey looked up at Seth, still holding onto Daniel’s hands. “Can he talk yet?”

“Still a no, Jojo,” Seth replied, attempting to smooth down Daniel’s hair with his fingers. “He’ll probably start getting closer to that next year. But Uncle Dean and I have been getting good at figuring out what his little noises mean.”

“He has this squeaky noise, almost like a dolphin, that means he’s hungry,” Dean explained. “That, coupled with him banging his hands on the floor, usually lets me know when it’s dinnertime.”

Roman smirked. “I hope Seth’s the one who is deciding _what_ he’s going to eat.”

Dean smacked his arm lightly. “Says the guy who called his mother to make sure his two-year-old had enough teeth to eat _chicken nuggets_.”

“Chicken nuggets are good, though,” Seth chimed in, now slowly picking Daniel up from his carrier. “Would one of you mind holding him for a sec while I fix his blankets here?”

“I’ve got it,” Dean said, taking his son carefully from Seth’s arms when he held him out to him. “Always a treat to hold my Danny boy.” Dean had been fond of Joelle when she was a baby, of course, but he was never as absolutely taken with her as he was now with Daniel. Maybe it was because he finally understood the paternal connection that Roman shared with Joey, even though Daniel was not biologically his. Seth had always been a little more reserved around Roman in general, but it was obvious that he had just as much love for his new son as Dean did.

“I’d take him backstage with me, but it might be a little too loud in there for him to handle,” Dean explained, bouncing Daniel slightly in his arms. “Plus I’d be swamped with kiddos as soon as they see him, which wouldn’t end well in general.”

By now, Joey had hopped up into Seth’s lap to have him braid her hair. “I’ll hold him for you, Uncle Dean.” Seth just smiled and continued to braid her hair, holding out his hand for Joey to drop one of the hair ties from her wrist into it so he could finish what he was doing. “I’m gonna sit with Uncle Seth and Mama during the recital.”

“Everything’s still going good with her?” Dean asked, his voice slightly lower as he wiped some drool from Daniel’s chin. “Scale of one to ten.”

“Solid seven,” he replied casually, crossing his arms and looking at the stage, where Summer was leading her class of seven- and eight-year-olds in a glitzy tap routine. “She’s still with her boyfriend and I kinda have my eye on someone else too, but… we’re managing. Slowly.”

“Is Auntie Nikki gonna eat with us tonight, Uncle Seth?” Joey asked, and Roman felt himself flush red, even if it didn’t really show on his cheeks. He knew Joey liked Nikki’s company (partially because she spoiled the little girl rotten), but he’d had a sneaking suspicion that she knew about his feelings toward her for a while now.

Dean must’ve put two and two together in his head, because he raised his eyebrows at Roman and smiled. “I see.”

“It’s not like that,” Roman tried to explain, but his denial fell on deaf ears as Dean just winked and chuckled.

“I don’t know, Jojo. Auntie Nikki’s been a little sad lately and might not want to come out to dinner with us on such short notice.” Seth had apparently missed the memo where Dean had caught on and turned to look at Roman as Joey jumped out of his lap, finished braid swinging. “Her and John are done for good this time; he moved out and everything.”

“Sounds like she might need a big dancing beefcake to help pick up the pieces,” Dean teased, making Roman frown since he couldn’t shove the man while he had a baby in his arms.

“But I’ll call her and check closer to the start,” Seth continued, giving Roman a sympathetic smile as he caught on as well.

Daniel made a small squeaky noise in Dean’s arms, making everyone turn to look. “Oh, is someone not getting enough attention?” Dean asked, using a voice that Roman could only describe as a “baby voice”. “Say ‘I want all eyes on me, Daddy, I want eeeeveryone lookin’ at me.’”

“You’re gettin’ all soft on me now that you’ve had a kid, Dean-o,” Roman said with a grin, clapping his brother on the shoulder as he heard the sound of something metallic crashing to the floor in the backstage area.

“That’s our cue,” Dean announced, getting up and pressing a kiss to Daniel’s cheek before handing him back to Seth and doing the same to him. “Catch you on the flip side.”

“Don’t have too much fun back there without me,” Seth called as they hurried up onto the stage to head back and see what the mess was.

“You know I never would!”

* * *

After the recital, Roman was in charge of making sure that everyone made it back to their respective parents before he could go eat. Dean and Seth offered to take Joey ahead to the restaurant with them so they could grab a table for everyone when they got there. Jey couldn’t make it, but Jimmy and Naomi had agreed, and he had yet to hear about whether or not Nikki would be there as well.

He supposed he shouldn’t get his hopes up. She _was_ newly single, after all.

When he arrived at the restaurant, some Italian place Dean loved, he was pleased to see Dean waiting for him in the lobby area to escort him to the table himself. “Your beloved awaits,” he greeted him, bowing slightly at the waist. “Looks like she was able to make it after all.”

“She’s not my beloved,” Roman glared at him. “Stop being ridiculous, man.”

“Hey, I’m just sayin’.” Dean opened up the second glass door, holding it open to let Roman go in first before following close behind. “It’s only fair that I play matchmaker with you two, considering Nikki is the one responsible for me meeting Seth.”

“Oh, that was her?” He knew the story of how Dean and Seth had met - hearing it so many times he had began to either tune it out or recite it verbatim, actually - but some of the details that weren’t important to Dean didn’t make it into the version he knew so well. “All you told me originally was that it was ‘a friend’.”

“Well, she is a friend.” Dean sidled up next to him, nudging his side. “All I’m saying is that you should go for it. You deserve love, man.”

“I have love. I have you guys and Joey and all my family -”

“You know what I mean.” Dean nudged his side as Roman saw their table set for eight from across the room. “Give it a shot. You’re sitting between and Joey anyways.”

At that moment, Nikki turned around to see the two of them approaching, Roman waving sheepishly for a minute and smiling before realizing what he must look like. _I look like an idiot,_ he thought to himself… before noticing that she smiled and waved back.

 _Huh,_ Roman thought, sitting down at his spot between the two of them and genuinely smiling this time. _Maybe she’s into that kind of thing._

* * *

Roman was outside of the studio, half-washing the windows and half-watching Dean dismiss his class inside for the day, a storm of eight- and nine-year-olds rushing back to their bags on the far side of the room. Dean went over to his things too, even though they consisted of one duffle bag and a car seat with a little boy inside, looking happy that his father was back to focusing on him again.

“Working hard or hardly working?” said a voice behind him, making him turn around in surprise.

Two sweaty smiles belonging to Seth and Nikki grinned back at him devilishly, making him realize for the first time why Dean wasn’t entirely convinced that the two weren’t distant cousins. Seth was wearing compression shorts and some shirt for an old 5K while Nikki was toting a yoga mat and wearing a coordinated outfit that made her look like she was born to wear it.

“I’m working,” Roman said defensively, gesturing to the newspaper he was using as a cleaning rag in his other hand. “Though Dean’s waiting inside for you, Seth. You should probably head in before he starts a new routine.”

“Yeah, don’t want to disturb him. Thanks, Ro,” Seth replied, swinging open the door only to nearly be dogpiled by his very sweaty husband only a few steps in. Nikki giggled next to him, and it was only then that Roman realized just how close they were at that moment.

“They’re adorable, aren’t they?” Nikki asked, still looking at the scene inside the studio. “I swear, they were meant for each other.”

“Yeah, adorable,” Roman agreed, though his eyes weren’t were hers were. He cleared his throat. “So, uh… I’ve been talkin’ to Joey, and she was wondering if you’d be interested in coming with us to the zoo next week. Dean and Seth’re going to visit Seth’s parents, so it’ll just be us that day, if that’s alright with you.”

Nikki looked up at him, apparently unfazed when she saw that Roman was already looking back. “Well, I’d need your number so we can finalize the plans.”

“O-oh, of course,” Roman replied, putting the newspaper on the windowsill and fishing his phone out of his pocket and handing it to her for her to put her number in. In under a minute, she handed back his phone, ‘Nikki B’ with a heart next to it installed inside with complete contact information.

“Thanks,” he said as he pocketed his phone again, nodding when Nikki did and looking back inside the studio with her. The two of them probably looked ridiculous, but it would have to do until either she left or he worked up the courage to say what he’d really meant to say.

“You, uh, wanna…” he started, feeling his cheeks grow red as she looked back up at him again.

“I’m free tomorrow night,” she suggested, crossing her arms over her chest. “Want to get dinner?”

“I’d love to,” he replied. “There’s this pizzeria in town that I have to take you to. It’s amazing.”

“Sounds like a date,” Nikki said with a soft smile, patting his arm before turning to leave. “See you tomorrow, Roman.”

When he was sure that she was in the parking lot, Roman rapped on the glass, making Dean and Seth (who was currently holding a sleeping Daniel) turn around to look at him, confused. “I did it!” he called to them loud enough for them to hear through the glass, shooting them both a thumbs-up.

Dean grinned and shot him a thumbs-up back, and Roman could see him explaining to Seth what was going on before Seth broke into a grin of his own. It was obvious that the two of them had something like this in mind for a while, but he knew he wasn’t going to find out until after his and Nikki’s date exactly how far their involvement stretched.

Dean winked at him, pressing a kiss to Seth’s cheek before lifting Daniel out of Seth’s arms to hold him again, and if Roman knew his brother, he was probably telling little Danny that his family was going to grow even bigger than it was before, and that was alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aw shucks, I finally finished it. But this might not be the end (though it is the last chapter-fic I plan on doing for this) just yet!
> 
> Thank you for sticking with me for so long!


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